Clearing Up After Pigeons – Case Study
Lee Branson of LB Contracts and the site manager of Woodley’s Yard in Higham Ferrers, Northants, called our offices to enquire about our Clearing Up After Pigeon Activity service. He had been recommended by a longstanding client of ours who had been very happy with our range of services over the years.
Lee had quite rightly recognised that, conditions inside the building, were unstable and dangerous for his maintenance crew to operate in a safe environment, so we arranged to meet with Lee on site and carry out a survey of the premises, completely free of charge, with a view to quoting him to solve his problem.
Our survey revealed that feral pigeons had gained access to a building that housed plant machinery and equipment, this had been going on for some years. Lee needed to get his team into the building to carry-out much needed repair and maintenance work as soon as possible and with the Christmas break looming this was fast becoming an emergency situation and he needed a solution and fast. We explained to Lee that the mess that birds leave behind is a very toxic material, whether it be droppings (Guano) or nesting materials, this would need to be treated to help neutralize the toxic nature of the pigeon guano before any removal work could take place.
In most cases carcasses of dead birds are also present. All this adds up to a very unhealthy working environment indeed. It’s not the kind of situation that endears us to our feathered friends, but the risk to human Health & Safety is very great. Obviously, after any “clean-up” was completed, Lee needed to ensure the pigeon problem didn’t re-occur, so he asked us to recommend a solution that would resolve any future problems. We recommended and quoted him for a low-visibility proofing netting. This
would be installed with access points for his maintenance staff to use without compromising the sites safety, whilst keeping the pigeons out. Within 48 hours, a quotation for the treatment and clean-up of the site was provided and accepted and a date set to commence the work.
The quote outlined our commitment to work safely and all insurance certificates, data sheets and waste disposal licenses (toxic waste) were sent to Lee. The work started on the agreed date and was successfully completed within the timeline agreed. Rob (RD) was our site manager on this job and was on point from day one. The site was treated with a neutralizing Bio-cide spray, areas were steam cleaned and scrubbed and many bags of pigeon guano, etc were removed and disposed of under license at the correct landfill site. Our three on-site operatives, dressed in the appropriate PPE, followed all the relevant health and safety recommendations and did an absolutely fantastic job on which was a very difficult and challenging site to work on. Great job RD and team.
Lee and his maintenance team were able to gain access to the area safely to carry out their jobs without fear of catching those nasty bugs that are associated with bird waste. Lee says…
“I am more than happy with the job and the speed in which Pestwise reacted and worked on our site. All the Health & Safety regulations were evident and RD and the lads even did a bit of extra cleaning up a couple of days after the work was officially finished. I’ll definitely be using Pestwise again.” He added “When it’s time to install the pigeon netting, I know Pestwise will do a great job, I have no hesitation in recommend them at all.”
“The risk Feral or Town Pigeons cause can be a pain in the backside and I’m sure that no one
relishes the task of clearing up after any pest, but you’ll be pleased to learn we have a
specialist team that view this task as a challenge.”
Rob Plosky Pestwise MD
