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IPM in Multi-Family Housing Training Recently Held - Februray 2008
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Pest control in multi-family housing is challenging and requires a team effort. Since the housing units are connected, pest management in one unit can affect other units. Chronic infestations of insects, rodents, mold and other organisms can be a health hazard, yet so can the overuse and misuse of pesticides inside homes. How can tenants, building managers, pest control operators, custodians and others work together to effectively control pests in a cost-effective and safe way?
Over 30 people attended a workshop held recently in West Philadelphia by the Philadelphia School & Community IPM Partnership (PSCIP) and sponsored by the National Healthy Homes Training Center that addressed many of these concerns. IPM, or integrated pest management, is a safe, effective, and scientific approach to managing pests. IPM uses knowledge of pests’ habits and needs to help implement pest prevention tactics as a first line of defense. Pesticides are used as a last resort, and only pesticide products that pose the least-toxic, least risk of exposure to residents are chosen.
According to Dion Lerman, PSCIP environmental health educator, the workshop focused on major types of pests, inspection and prevention techniques, and the safest, most effective solutions to pest infestations. “In multi-family housing environments, we emphasize the need for cooperation among everyone – management, facility maintenance workers, tenants and pest control operators.”
The workshop used materials and training methods developed by the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) to help attendees identify their respective roles and responsibilities in pest management and begin to chart an action plan to address chronic pest issues. The workshop also included hands-on activities such as unit walk-throughs, how to spot the signs of a pest infestation and setting traps.
“Participation in trainings like these can be the first step in a public housing authority’s decision to convert from traditional pest management practices that rely on regularly scheduled pesticide applications to a prevention-based approach that can reduce pesticide exposure and result in more effective pest control,” Lerman explained. One participant commented, "This presentation was very helpful and useful, and the organization was 110 percent excellent. The speakers were all very competent, you can obviously see that they are very knowledgeable about the topic."
In addition to PSCIP staff and NCHH representatives, attendees included staff from the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (Healthy Homes), the US Environmental Protection Agency (Children's Health), the City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Office, Community Asthma Prevention Program (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia), the Health Promotion Council (Philadelphia Health Management Corporation), Thomas Jefferson University Community Health Program, and several community-based organizations and local pest control companies. Because response to the training was so strong and favorable, PSCIP is planning additional trainings in the future.
For information about the National Healthy Homes Training Center, visit http://www.healthyhomestraining.org/index.htm. For more information on PSCIP, including future trainings or how to sponsor one, visit Web site http://www.pscip.org/. Or, you may contact Michelle Niedermeier at the Penn State Philadelphia Outreach Center, phone (215) 471-2200, ext. 109, or e-mail mxn14@psu.edu.
PSCIP is part of the Pennsylvania IPM program, a collaboration between the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture aimed at promoting integrated pest management in both agricultural and urban settings. For more information, contact the program at (814) 865-2839, or Web site http://www.paipm.org. To view our archived news releases, see Web site http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/10.htm.