9 essential steps to pass a pest control audit

Whether your business operates in the food processing industry, pharmaceutical industry, or any other industry where audits are an operational requirement, the word AUDIT makes even the most seasoned professional sweat a little.

One of the reasons for this is due to the fact that this time-consuming process requires multiple departments to work together as auditors often look at conditions and processes that stretch across the entire operation. When it comes to an important area of your audit such as pest control, the smallest infraction can result in low or failing scores that could see your facility having to halt operations for an extended period of time – negatively impacting your bottom line.

As global leaders in the pest control industry, Rentokil forms close partnerships with our customers as well as auditing and regulatory bodies, including the GFSI, AIB, YUM and BRC Global Standard to ensure that we are abreast of the latest audit standard changes and internal audit requirements to assist our customers.

When preparing for a pest control audit, first and foremost it is important not to panic and to follow your audit standard guidelines to the letter to ensure positive scores. To aid in calming the nerves, we have put together a basic guideline of common audit actions to help you prepare for your audit. Keep in mind that audit standards are constantly evolving as processes and technology develops so the following steps are your basics and need to be supplemented with your specific auditing requirements.

Here are 9 essential steps from the experts that can assist you in passing your pest control audit:

1.  Ensure that a thorough pest risk assessment is conducted when engaging with potential pest control providers to ensure your pest control contract stipulates specifics including, what types of pests will be treated for and the frequency of premises visits per pest. This frequency variation is due to the fact that not all pests have the same breeding cycle nor harbourage requirements, you might need more scheduled visits for one pest and less for another.  Other areas that need to be assessed as part of this process is the site’s pest history, the building integrity, surrounding environment impact, the audit requirements, the risk to the site of pests with higher potential to infest.
2. Clearly communicate the audit standards your organisation follows – along with your internal audit requirements – to your pest control provider at the start of the contract period.
3. Throughout your agreement, action any pest control recommendations put forward by your provider as soon as you receive them, to better manage infestations.  This proactive approach will contribute to positive audit findings.
4. Don’t leave your audit planning for the last minute. 
5. Notify your pest control provider of your audit date so that they can be on standby or on site for the audit.
6. Review on-site documentation and organise it according to your audit requirements (if you are a Rentokil customer, myRentokil will have this information ready for you):* Ensure you have a current, up to date contract detailing the scope of work covered on hand
   * Ensure your pesticide usage logs are complete and up-to-date
   * Collate your product label information and safety data sheets (SDS) for all pesticides used on site
   * Check that your, and your pest control provider’s certifications, licenses, and insurance information are available and up to date
   * Check that your floor plans are current and include the most up-to-date placement of all pest control devices on site.  A signed off copy must be available online (if you are using a system like myRentokil) or in your file.
   * Ensure that all pest sightings are logged and actioned by your service provider.  This needs to be checked regularly so that your data’s trends reflect accurately.
   * Aggregate recommendations and corrective action reports (should include pest activity, housekeeping and building maintenance incidents)
   * Collate all your service reports and audit the documents to check that every document is complete
   * Check that your audit required 2 day and 2 night pest control program evaluations are complete and that the reports are on site
   * Ensure that your quality assurance inspection report (annual facility assessment) is included in your file
7. Walk the interior of the facility and confirm that:* All your premises’ interior pest control devices are indicated on the floor plan and identified correctly
   * All pest control devices are labelled with the correct pest control service information
   * All these devices are serviced as per the service schedule indicated on your contract
   * All devices, including insect light traps (ILTs) and rodent bait stations, are placed correctly in accordance with your auditing standards, ie ILT’s not above a food surface or at least 3 meters away from the production lines
8. Walk the exterior of the facility and confirm that:* All your premises’ exterior pest control devices are indicated on the floor plan and identified correctly
   * All pest control devices are labelled with the correct pest control service information
   * All these devices are serviced as per the service schedule indicated on your contract
   * All devices, including electronic fly killers and rodent bait stations, are placed correctly in accordance with your auditing standards
   * Rodent bait stations have to be;
   – tamper resistant, locked and secured to the ground;
   – in good condition which means that they should not be broken or heavily chewed on and;
   – clean and free of decomposed rodents or other animals
   * The site should have no signs of rodent burrows
   * Sewer and manhole access points should be monitored for pest activity
   * Ensure that outside lighting does not attract flying insects, like moths, by using fittings with suitable globes
   * If required for your audit, bird exclusion equipment should be in place
   * Bird nests or bird fouling must not be present on the property
9. Conduct a final review of the interior and exterior of the facility:* Ensure that all pest control documentation is accessible via your online pest control reporting system (like myRentokil) or in a logbook binder that has been sorted into categories as per your audit requirements
   * Ensure that you are familiar with your pest control audit system or file as you will need to confidently talk your auditor through it and answer any questions
   * Arrange for your cleaning staff to thoroughly clean the interior of your premises before the audit
   * Arrange for your cleaning staff to remove any litter left outside the building
   * Ensure that all evidence of pest activity is eliminated including cobwebs
   * Ensure that you are familiar with the file or online system layout