Employee-Friendly Products Beneficial in Era of Labor Shortages

Ask your peers what's the No. 1 challenge currently facing their business and they'll immediately respond: “Labor.” And with more quality jobs than applicants to fill them, it's a problem that is not going away any time soon, which makes employee retention critical to the long-term success of your business.

 

And what drives employee retention? In addition to competitive wages and benefits, in addition to a healthy corporate culture, "real-world" work conditions are playing an increasingly important role in employee satisfaction and that's why product selection is so important.

 

In today's current business climate, tech-friendly products are a must.

 

EASE OF USE CRITICAL. One key factor to consider when choosing products is the ease of use of a given insecticide product for the pest professional to apply. Ready-to-use (RTU) products, such as aerosols and most baits, have the greatest ease of use as no mixing is necessary. Water-based formulations, by contrast, require mixing and application via spray equipment, but may be more economical than RTU products. Depending on the product, however, factors such as limits on where the product may be applied, what PPE is required for application and any specialized equipment needed may impact the ease of use.

 

Although water-based formulations present more issues than other formulations in terms of ease of use, technology such as measuring devices built into product containers and water-soluble packets have made such products easier to mix. Water-based products also are the most widely used formulations as the pest control industry has transformed toward exterior-oriented services the past 30+ years. Manufacturers continue to develop and reformulate various active ingredients to create products with greater control activity at lower concentrations, longer residual life, fewer PPE requirements and the ability to apply product on a greater number of sites on and around buildings.

 

WHAT ABOUT PPE? A product with fewer PPE requirements may be preferred by many pest professionals. For example, a product that does not require wearing water-proof gloves or long-sleeved shirts would be preferable for most applicators (although some states may require one or both for ALL applications). Pyrethroids and some other active ingredients have restrictions for exterior use to help prevent run-off to nontarget sites. Label directions for both PPE and use restrictions need to be understood and followed.

 

"Every company has to invest in PPE and those costs increased during the pandemic," observed Joe Barile, technical service lead, Bayer Pest Management & Public Health. "But if techs are spending fewer hours in the field wearing PPE, those costs are going to be reduced and technicians are going to be more comfortable performing their jobs. Techs feel better when they don't have to wear PPE."

 

 

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Barricor is a new GIC liquid concentrate from Bayer. It features a new formulation technology with deltamethrin as the active ingredient. The SP in the name is short for solid particle formulation. Barricor is the first product registered with this unique formulation technology. The deltamethrin active ingredient is incorporated into solid particles that will ‘stand up’ on the complex surfaces and increase the bioavailability of the active ingredient for the target pest. Barricor SP provides excellent results for outdoor perimeter applications at very low rates. 

 

Barricor was developed for PMPs providing high-frequency maintenance services who currently leverage economy pyrethroids. 

 

The company was challenged by customers to design an effective, easy-to-use insecticide for high frequency IPM services that has flexible label language, is technician-friendly and available at a cost competitive to economy bifenthrin formulations.

 

(Source: www.environmentalscience.bayer.us)