Details of Four Points of IPM

Listed below are the four critical points of a school IPM program and who is responsible for each

  1. Prevention: Responsibility of the schools
    1. Sanitation: Indoor cleanliness, elimination of clutter, removal of outdoor debris, and dumpster location all contribute to pest prevention and control.
    2. Exclusion: Building Maintenance and Repairs. Some pest control companies may do caulking, screening, and other small repairs. However, proper maintenance by school personnel will prevent pest entry and survival year round.
  2. Monitoring: Responsibility of the pest management company or in-house pest management professional
    1. Sticky traps for cockroaches, etc. should be established in specific locations that are conducive to pests. Traps must be checked every month for pest evidence. Pests found in monitors should be recorded in a log-book. Monitoring is used in place of "preventative" pesticide applications. See How to Establish a Pest Monitoring Program.
    2. Food monitors are used prior to baiting for ants. Food monitoring is used to determine pest ant feeding preferences. Any pest ants found, and their feeding preferences, should be recorded in the log-book.
  3. Least toxic control methods: Responsibility of pest management company or in-house pest management professional. See Virginia Pesticide Law (PDF).
    1. A "least toxic control" method may simply be the use of hardware cloth to block a rodent entrance rather than the use of rodent bait. However, "least toxic" will generally include control methods like baits, boric acid dust, and IGRs (Insect Growth Regulators).
    2. Chemical control methods (baits, dusts, IGRs) are used only on an "as needed" basis in response to documented pest problems.
    3. Chemical products should be selected from, or comparable to, those listed on the IPM Suggested Products List (PDF). Pesticides should be placed in locations where they are accessible to pests but are inaccessible to people or pets (precision targeting). Also see IPM Techniques for Specific Pests
  4. Record keeping: Responsibility of both schools and pest management company or in-house pest management professional
    1. A log-book should be kept on the property to record pest sightings and any action taken in response to these sightings. The log-book records should also include:
      1. Pests found in monitors and any action taken (see Pest Sighting Log (PDF)) .
      2. Pesticide application records. The record should include the product name, the formulation, date, and location of the application.
      3. Any pesticide application record should be identified as a response to a specific pest sighting or pest in monitor record.
      4. Copies of the pest management company's license and contact information.
      5. Copies of the MSDS sheets for all "IPM Pesticides".