In our area, one of the biggest threats of getting bed bugs is where you work and/or the type of work you do. The threat of bed bugs at work can become a pretty serious issue, fast.
If you have bed bugs at home, it is your responsibility to take every precaution to prevent taking them outside of your home. We counsel our clients to ensure they know the proactive measures and precautions to take. Taking bed bugs to work can lead to widespread issues for your employers, coworkers and customers.
On the flip side of the coin, if you have a coworker with bed bugs at work, and is not taking proper precautions, it puts everyone at risk!
In one specific scenario recently, a business contacted us to treat their office space. There was definitely a bed bug problem, and it was an industry that wouldn’t typically be considered high risk. We worked with employees to establish a treatment procedure, training protocol and ultimately get rid of the bed bug issue at the building. The question remained – Where did the bugs come from?
By establishing an education program and building trust with employees, we ended up finding 5 employees had unrelated, serious bed bug issues going on at home. For different reasons, these 5 households had a bed bug issue going on, that in turn put the workplace and coworkers at risk.
What to do if you Suspect Bed Bugs at Work
If you have found evidence or a live or dead bed bug, it is critical to notify management immediately. We work with businesses all over Northeast Ohio to treat and prevent bed bug problems in offices, call centers, manufacturing facilities, nursing homes, doctor offices and more.
If you believe you have been exposed to be bugs at work it is critical to take preventative measures to ensure you do not take them home with you!
- Do not wear any exposed clothing or take any bags or personal items into your home
- Immediately change your clothing and put exposed clothing into a sealed bag until it can be dried on high heat for 30 minutes
- Limit what you take into work – No coats, extra bags, etc
While some industries can be higher risk, such as home health care, doctor offices, day cares, etc, the truth is any industry can be at risk in our area. We have a very prevalent bed bug problem and this means the odds of someone at your working having them can unfortunately be pretty good. The key is to prevent bringing them in and spreading them to others!
If you are a manager or business owner, learn more about our commercial bed bug services here.
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