FEAR CONTROL


	Fear.  It has a wonderful acronym: False
Evidence Appearing Real.  We tend to fear that 
which we do not know much about.  Combined 
with wrong information and any natural fear can 
become crippling.  Three factors which can lead to 
fear are lack of information, lack of experience, 
and misperceptions.  This fear can lead people to 
make decisions which are unproductive and costly in
their private and business worlds.  To prevent this 
from happening, you should gather the correct 
information, gain experience and then discard your 
misperceptions.  This works for almost anything you
may fear and it certainly works when deciding to do 
in house pest control.
	I am sometimes told by business owners that 
they are "afraid" to do their pest control in house.  
Their fears vary, but the three which I hear most are 
1) "My maintenance crew is already overworked and 
I'm afraid they'll neglect other responsibilities" or 
2)  "No one on staff knows a thing about pest control 
and they're either afraid of bugs, don't want to learn 
anything new, or have no interest" and  3)  "The liability 
is too high.  I'm afraid I might get sued by someone 
who gets sick from the spray".  Let me address each 
of these objections and explain why these "fears" are 
unfounded.
	First, I rarely see a maintenance crew with time 
to spare.  Most can appear busy if they need to look 
that way.  Like managers, there is always something 
for them to do.  But if you were to list the things which 
keep them "busy", you will easily identify tasks which are 
not as important as maintaining a pest free living 
environment for your tenants.  If these "busy" tasks are
put on hold, you will find plenty of new time to enable 
any maintenance crew to handle your pest control needs.
	Secondly, it is generally true that management 
has limited if any pest control experience.  My response 
to this is that many day to day maintenance activities 
had to be learned.  Pest control is just one more 
responsibility.  It can be learned by anyone who takes 
the time and makes the effort.  If your staff is "afraid" 
of bugs, lets educate them on specific pests so they 
will overcome this fear.  If they don't want to learn 
anything new, or have no interest, it's probably time for 
an new employee.
	Thirdly, the risk of doing your pest control in 
house is a legitimate concern.  A lawsuit happy person 
ten years ago had many options to choose from if they 
were looking for a get-rich-quick scheme.  But not 
today.  Pest control products today have minimized 
their hazard.  In other words, they are less risky to use.  
And since the most common pest to deal with is the 
German Roach, you now have a riskless option for 
controlling them - Maxforce Gel and Avert.    Many 
of you know these products.  They are baits which are 
applied in cabinets, pantries, oven areas, dishwasher 
areas, refrigerator areas, bathrooms or anywhere 
you have a roach problem.  It's not a new idea.  Roach 
baits have been out for some time.  But the original 
products barely worked.  Todays products have such 
strong attractants they're practically fool proof.  All 
you need to do is apply it close to where there are 
roaches and they're sure to find it.  And the great thing 
about these products is they're just about risk free.  
Let me explain.  
	In order for a person to make a claim they 
were exposed to some toxic chemical, they must 
establish an exposure route.  This exposure route can 
happen any of three ways: 1) Dermal - through the skin.
2) Inhalation - through the lungs or 3) Oral - through 
the mouth (eaten).  Although oral exposure is the 
quickest and potentially most dangerous, it is more 
common for either dermal or inhalation routes of 
exposure.  The most common products used ten 
years ago were volatile (volatility is the ability of a 
product to evaporate).  This lead to dermal and 
inhalation exposures.  People experienced headaches 
and other symptoms which were automatically 
attributed to the smelly pesticide being sprayed 
monthly.  Todays products are different.  They have 
little if any volatility.  They have no odor.  And the 
active ingredients are minimally toxic to mammals.  
This reduces risk.  So if you insist on spraying for 
roaches, the products we have today are less likely 
to cause a problem.   However, if you follow this 
column you'll know that spraying is not necessary.  I 
have recommended baiting for German Roaches 
many times and do so for two reasons:  1) Baiting 
works better in apartment complexes and 2) there is 
little if any risk when using bait.  The studies with 
Maxforce Gel and Avert show dermal and inhalation 
exposures have no impact on mammals.  The same is 
true when these products are fed to the lab rats and 
mice.  This means that even if your tenants eat the bait, 
it can't do anything to them.  In layman's terms, the 
baits work on insects.  Mammals are not affected  
because a mammals digestive system breaks down the 
bait before it can impact us.  So baiting provides a 
practically no risk approach to roach control!
	In summary, fear can prevent people from 
making productive decisions in both their private and 
business worlds.  The best way to deal with fear is to 
confront it head on by getting the right information, 
applying it and then dispelling all misperceptions.  This 
approach will work for almost anything including in 
house pest control.  Once you have the right 
information and have been properly instructed, it will 
be easy to discard any misperceptions.  With the right 
training and products, any maintenance staff can 
handle their pest control in house.  And this 
commitment to overcome the "fear" of doing in house 
pest control will lead to less bugs and a big savings!

	If you have any questions about doing your 
own pest control or any other subject matter, please 
give us a call. 

Our toll free number is 1-800-877-7290.

E-Mail us at uspray@mindspring.com

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4653 Highway 78
Lilburn, Georgia  30047
Phone:  (770)985-9388
Fax:  (770)985-9319
Toll Free:  1-800-877-7290


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