Want to Reduce Equipment Problems? Do This.

Editor’s note: Andrew Greess, a pest control equipment expert and president of equipment website Qspray.com, shared techniques for avoiding pest control equipment problems well before issues arise.

Pest control equipment problems can ruin your day. Missed appointments, repair expenses, overtime, can all result from equipment problems. In prior articles we have discussed a variety of techniques that can contribute to reduce downtime: preventative maintenance, additional training, standardization, supervisor spot checks, etc. Using these techniques will definitely reduce equipment problems and downtime.

Conversely, this article describes a technique that if absent, guarantees problems and downtime.

Here is the key technique:

Assign responsibility for each piece of equipment to one technician and hold them accountable.

Anyone with kids will remember this. When something breaks, I ask my kids who did it. “Not me” was the most common answer. It is the same with pest control equipment. If no one is responsible for it, it won’t last.

Here are some of the common problems we see when no single person is responsible for equipment:

Equipment is not cleaned out after use

Equipment is not properly secured

Problems are unreported

Required maintenance is not performed

The causes of these problems could be intentional, e.g., the technician just doesn’t care, or unintentional, e.g., the technician forgets to report a problem. If a technician is not responsible, he or she is not likely to put in extra effort.

Here’s a great analogy: no one ever washes their rental car.

Here are some types of equipment that should be assigned to one technician:

Vehicle

Compressed air sprayers

Backpack sprayers

Power spray equipment

Foggers, foamers, dusters.

Termite rods and other termite equipment.

Assign equipment to a single individual and hold them accountable. Do periodic checks to make sure the equipment is working properly and is in good condition. Ask employees if their equipment needs service.

Andrew Greess is a pest control equipment expert and author, and president of Qspray.com, the pest control equipment website.