Introduction
Councils are responsible for making sure that houses, streets and
public buildings are kept clean and pest free. When pests are
discovered in any of these places, pest control officers come to
the rescue. They deal with a variety of pests that may pose a
danger to health or cause damage to crops and foodstuffs. Pest
control officers are usually based in environmental health
departments and work alongside staff concerned with refuse and
street cleaning, health and safety, food hygiene and pollution
control.
Work Environment
Although pest control officers have a council office base, they
spend most of their time visiting homes, factories, warehouses,
shops, farms and rivers to deal with pests. Sometimes pest control
officers may need to venture into unpleasant conditions such as
sewers or roof spaces. They often need to wear protective
clothing, including face visor, goggles, respirator, gloves and
overalls - to protect against stings and bites and also against
poisons, toxic substances and dust.
Daily Activities
The work is quite varied and involves both office and outdoor
work. Tasks can include:
- picking up details from the office in the morning and spending
a large proportion of the day making calls and visiting
premises;
- dealing with a range of public health pests, for example,
rodents (rats and mice), wasps, ants, cockroaches, fleas, earwigs,
flies and woodlice;
- trying to identify the pest by looking at droppings, nests,
nibbled food, etc.;
- finding out how and where they are getting into a
building/grounds by, for example, laying tracking dust and
returning at a later date to look at the trail using a UV light, or
by looking for their source of food;
- collecting dead insects, animals, samples of food products and
animal faeces for scientific analysis;
- carrying out treatments such as laying bait (poison) in
cupboards, laying traps, spraying nests in roof spaces and drains,
pumping powder into cavity walls, fumigating rooms and spraying
carpets with insecticide;
- choosing the most appropriate method of control for the area,
for example, not using toxic sprays in kitchens, and placing bait
out of the way of children, pets and protected wildlife;
- proofing areas to prevent pests returning, which might include
building screens, sealing holes, installing fly killers, putting
bristles on doors and fine mesh in air vents, or putting spikes on
a building to stop pigeons landing (they are a protected species
but their droppings are a health hazard);
- advising the public on the prevention of pests and infestations
and treatment of pests;
- maintaining records and writing up reports;
- supporting the work of environmental health officers by
collecting and delivering samples and monitoring equipment, drain
testing, site gas monitoring, seizing stray dogs, observing
situations where complaints have been received, acting as a council
witness in legal proceedings, undertaking basic recording and
survey work.
Skills & Interests
Pest control officers need to be:
- good communicators;
- responsible and mature, with good common sense;
- physically fit;
- ability to work on own initiative;
- aware of health and safety issues when handling dangerous
chemicals;
- practical, with the ability to operate equipment;
- unbothered by working in dirty or cramped conditions;
- unsentimental about killing pests and not squeamish about the
sight of blood and dead animals;
- good at investigating and problem solving.
Entry Requirements
Most councils will ask for a good standard of education and a good
standard of literacy and numeracy, as you need to be able to read
and write - to follow instructions for using chemicals and to keep
records. You may require some previous practical experience of
working outdoors and will normally need to be able to drive and
hold a full clean driving licence. Qualifications in pest control
are desirable, although as a trainee or assistant you will receive
full on-the-job training.
The British Pest Control Association and the Royal Society for
the Promotion of Health work together to run relevant training
courses and qualifications for those working in pest control. You
can also study for relevant N/SVQs.
Future Prospects & Opportunities
There may be opportunities to move to a supervisory post managing
a small team. You may also be able to gain training to move into
other areas within in environmental health such as pollution
control, food safety, animal welfare or work as a dog warden.
Further Information & Services
National Pest Technicians Association www.npta.org.uk
British Pest Control Association www.bpca.org.uk
Royal Society for the Promotion of Health www.rsph.org
Assetskills www.assetskills.org
You may find further information about this area of work through
Careers Wales (www.careerswales.com/) or
in your local library, careers office or school careers
library.