Pest Awareness Training
Retailer specifications expect your staff to be trained, and expect a named employee to be accountable for the programme. Shield trains that person: the team leader or technical manager who will train your existing staff and new starters, using material we build or review with them, and refresh as the standards move.
At a Glance
Pest awareness training gives staff a working knowledge of the major pest species, the legislation governing pest control, and why hygiene, housekeeping and proofing prevent infestations. Shield trains the senior person responsible for it at your site, over Microsoft Teams, and builds or reviews the booklet and presentation they will use — then updates both as regulations, control methods and monitoring technology change.
Why It Is Expected
Over the past decade retailers have moved from encouraging training to requiring it. The Tesco specification states that a trained company employee must be accountable for managing the pest control programme.
Your training records sit in the same evidence pack as your risk assessment and trend analysis. An auditor asking who is accountable expects a name and a record, not a job title. SALSA Issue 7 goes further: clause 1.9.1 requires the methods of pest control to be communicated to all staff, which is a training record.
A clean, well maintained and pest-proofed building will usually result in a pest free environment. Most of what achieves that is done by your staff, not by your contractor.
What It Covers
This is the ground we take your lead through, and the structure the material we build or review is written to.
Defining what constitutes a pest, the species common to food production, and the consequences of an infestation for food safety, product quality and reputation.
The methods available — traps, baits, monitoring and exclusion — how they are applied in a working facility, and how the right method is chosen.
The legal requirements governing pest control in food production, and how a facility demonstrates it remains compliant.
What auditors assess, how to prepare, and worked examples including bait formulations as they appear in an audit.
Biology, signs of activity and control for the pests that matter most, so staff recognise a problem at the point it starts.
Why housekeeping is critical, and the full range of proofing measures that keep pests out of the building in the first place.
How It Works
Advice and training for the team leader or technical manager accountable for pest awareness at your site, delivered over Microsoft Teams around your shifts.
A pest awareness training booklet, presentation or supporting document, built with you from scratch or reviewed and improved where you already have one.
When regulations, control methods or monitoring technology change, we update the training and the material, and run a refresher for your designated lead.
Learning Outcomes
Recognise the species found in food production and the signs each one leaves.
Articulate the risk pests pose to food safety, product and reputation.
Understand which methods suit which situation, and why.
Know the legal requirements that govern pest control on a food site.
Understand what an auditor assesses and how a facility demonstrates conformance.
Use the sighting log and reporting route correctly, so a sighting becomes a record rather than a rumour.
Delivery
Sessions run over Microsoft Teams with your team leader or technical manager, at a time that fits production rather than interrupting it. The training comes from people who do the work, so the examples are the ones your sector actually faces. Where a site has a recurring issue, that issue is built into the session and into the material your lead keeps.
Keeping It Current
Most of our major clients run their pest awareness training internally, and the risk is not the first session — it is the third year, when the material still reflects the standards of the year it was written. Shield returns to it. When a regulation changes, when a control method or a monitoring tool changes, AI pest management software being the current example, we update the training and the supporting material and run a refresher for your lead, so what your staff are told matches what your auditor now expects.
Who We Train
The employee held accountable for the programme under the retailer specification.
The people who face the auditor, own the documentation and sign off the training material.
The people standing in front of your staff, who need to know the subject well enough to answer the questions that follow.
The people who authorise the proofing work and hold the budget for it.
Client Feedback
“Shield’s pest awareness training for our food production team was fantastic. The course was informative, engaging, and tailored to our specific needs. It’s greatly improved our team’s understanding of pest prevention.”
Food Production
“Shield’s audit compliance support for our BRCGS certification has been invaluable. Their knowledge of the standards has made our audits much more streamlined.”
Food Manufacturing
“We’ve been using Shield’s Insectram reporting system and it has changed how we manage pest control. Real-time updates and trend analysis keep us proactive.”
Multi-site Facilities
A: The senior person accountable for pest awareness at your site, usually a team leader or technical manager. They then train existing staff and new starters using material we build or review with them. Retailer specifications expect a named accountable employee, and this is that person.
A: Over Microsoft Teams, scheduled around your production and shift patterns, and taught by BPCA-qualified technicians who service commercial food sites every week.
A: Yes. When regulations, control methods or monitoring tools change, we update the training and the supporting material and run a refresher for your lead.
