[Bed Bugs] Watch out for Common Bed Bug Hazards

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following has been excerpted from “Bed Bug Handbook: The Complete Guide to Bed Bugs and Their Control,” a comprehensive bed bug reference book written by Lawrence Pinto, Richard Cooper and Sandra Kraft. To order, call 800/456-0707 or visit at www.pctonline.com/store.

Pest control is not the most dangerous of jobs, but it’s not the safest either. Bed bug control poses some risks to technicians, and the more common hazards are discussed in this excerpt. Be alert to these hazards, take proper precautions, wear the right protective equipment, ask questions and keep safety in mind at all times. Your personal safety when doing bed bug work is primarily your own responsibility.

AVOIDING BED BUG BITES. Bed bugs are unlikely to bite technicians during inspections or treatments since the bugs do not like disturbance and normally feed when it is dark and quiet, typically in the hours before dawn. Nevertheless, there is some risk, especially in heavy infestations, and particularly if a technician leans against or sits on an infested bed or couch and a bed bug transfers to a technician’s clothing. This transfer also can occur when technicians are repositioning large mattresses, box springs and heavy furniture during inspections and service. These items can be heavily infested with bed bugs, and particularly when only one person is trying to support and manipulate them, bed bugs can be distributed onto the technician and throughout the room. Many companies require two technicians during service to minimize this risk, not to mention the risk of strains and back injuries.

You also need to take precautions to avoid taking bed bugs home where they may bite you or your family. Here are some guidelines you can take to minimize the risk of being bitten or bringing them home with you:

• Assume beds, furniture and other items you are about to inspect or treat are infested and act accordingly.
• Avoid laying across, leaning against or sitting on potentially infested beds or furniture and minimize direct contact with any potentially infested materials such as drapes, rugs or piles of dirty clothes.
• Bring a minimum of equipment into the room. If you carry an inspection kit or service kit, place it in an open area away from walls and furniture.
• Take off your clothes as soon as you get home. Remove your clothes over a noncarpeted floor and be ready to immediately capture and destroy any bug you see.
• If you are concerned that your clothes might contain bed bugs, launder them in hot water as soon as possible. If your company has a uniform service you can bag the clothing until pick-up. (However, you should advise the uniform company why the uniforms have been bagged.)
• If you have been in a severely infested building or feel that you may have interacted with bed bugs, you may want to change and bag your clothes before leaving the site and have the clothes in question laundered. (Don’t forget to have an extra set of bagged clothes on hand.)

AVOIDING STRAINS AND BACK INJURIES. Inspecting and treating for bed bugs is surprisingly strenuous work. Technicians must disassemble beds, flip over mattresses and box springs, and manhandle furniture. To prevent injury, avoid any sudden motions with these heavy items, lift heavy items carefully (see sidebar below), and when in doubt, get help. Two-person teams can reduce the risk of injury when inspecting and treating beds and furniture.

AVOIDING PATHOGEN CONTACT. Bed bug work can expose pest control technicians and inspectors to human pathogens. Just think of the processes involved in bed bug inspection and treatment. You are often forced to handle other people’s bed linens, dirty clothes, shoes and other most personal possessions. You are disturbing the environment in and around the bed and in closets, and may be driving dust into the air along with skin debris, dried secretions, fecal matter, blood and other body fluids, and any pathogens associated with them. Risks increase if an occupant is ill or bedridden.

Workers should wear medical gloves or Kevlar gloves when inspecting or servicing for bed bugs. Medical gloves may be made of nitrile, vinyl or latex (however, beware of latex allergy). Depending on conditions at the site, also consider using other personal protective equipment (PPE) such as a respirator, goggles and coveralls. Wash up regularly or use hand sanitizer. Avoid touching your face. Wash up thoroughly before eating or smoking.

Pest control technicians doing bed bug inspections and treatments are at risk of getting pricked accidentally by used and discarded syringes. The degree of risk varies with the location. The risk is highest in medical facilities, apartment complexes with a history of illegal drug use, and sites with resident patients. While the trauma of the needlestick is minor, the significant health risk is from blood-borne pathogens left inside the syringe.

The risk of transmission via needlestick is highest when the used syringe has been discarded in hard-to-see locations such as in or under the bed, between the mattress and box spring, and inside furniture drawers and cabinets.

While the risk that a pest control technician or inspector will become infected with hepatitis or HIV from a needlestick is admittedly low, that risk can be lowered further by doing the following:

• Be alert to discarded needles under beds and furniture, inside cabinets and drawers.
• Never reach into areas where you can’t see, such as under the bed.
• Consider wearing Kevlar gloves or two pairs of medical gloves, a practice called “double gloving.”
• If you work in patient areas of medical facilities, be sure to understand and follow any safety procedures recommended.

Protect Your Back...Think Before You Lift

Slow down and lift the load mentally first. If you’re not sure you can lift the load by yourself, don’t be a hero. Get help from another person.

• Face the object you are going to lift. Plant your feet evenly, close to the object.
• Don’t bend from the waist with your legs locked. Bend your knees and take advantage of your more powerful thigh muscles to help lift the load.
• Lift and move slowly and evenly. Avoid jerky movements or twisting your body.
• Hold a heavy load close to your body, not out at arm’s length.
• Don’t lift a heavy load higher than your waist.
• If two people are lifting a heavy load, only one should direct the movements.
• Before you lift, make sure you have a place to set the load down.
• Reverse the lifting process to set the load down. Keeping your back straight, slowly bend your knees and set the load down gradually.

What to Do If You Are Stuck by a Needle

The following first-aid procedures should be done in the event of a needlestick. The first four steps should be done as quickly as possible. Do not delay.

• Immediately wash and disinfect the wound.
• Inform the appropriate medical supervisor (if in a medical facility) or facility manager and call your office.
• Save the needle, placing it in a stick-proof container, so it can be tested.
• Notify your physician.
• Write down the details of how the exposure occurred.
• Get yourself tested for hepatitis and HIV.
• Make sure that someone at your company makes arrangements to have the source individual (the person whose needle it was) tested to determine whether they are HIV or hepatitis positive.