The threat surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is affecting businesses across the world.
“We are navigating through maintaining running our business efficiently and effectively as we hold our employees and our customers’ health with highest regard,” said officials from ABC Home & Commercial Services, the largest independently owned pest control company in Texas.
For many businesses, it’s safe to say, it really does all come down to employees’ health and customers’ health.
But more specifically, what measures are companies actively taking? How have changes been implemented?
ABC Home & Commercial Services pulled back the curtain for us, to give readers a peek at how things have been operating in this new age of coronavirus.
Internal safety
Considering the fact that everyone’s degree of comfort varies, ABC is making sure that each employee is protected and safe. So that means the majority of the company’s employees are working remotely or from home.
“Our office staff, and technicians who have to stop by between servicing homes and businesses -- each person entering the building has to wash their hands in a mobilized station we have set up outside our doors,” a company spokesperson said. “Once they enter, we take the temperature of each person and record it. If they don’t have a high temperature, they wear a wristband that helps provide peace to those working in the office.”
Meetings are mostly being held on Zoom.
The company said people actually prefer teleconferencing, and employees feel more engaged than before.
Some meetings are still being held in the office, but business leaders make sure workers maintain 6 feet of social distance -- and give even a little extra space to make sure everyone feels safe and comfortable.
“Our technicians servicing the city of Houston are also sanitizing before and after (visiting) every home or business,” the ABC spokesperson said. “They are wearing masks and maintaining space from any homeowner or individual they come across. We also treat outside only, which creates a huge level of safety.”
Added sanitization service
Businesses have had to adjust the way they conduct day-to-day operations, both temporarily and permanently.
One of the things ABC Home & Commercial has adjusted permanently, is the addition of a service line.
ABC serves businesses, restaurants and hospitals around the Houston metroplex with pest control, pool and lawn services. They have now added another on their lineup due to COVID-19: Sanitization/Disinfectant Service.
The Disinfectant Program is intended to give families and businesses peace of mind.
“We will be applying a topical on surfaces of conducive regions where coronavirus may be active inside homes and businesses,” the company spokesperson said. “The product we use kills 100% of the organisms on the surface being treated, and specifically ‘human coronavirus’ is on the label as a target organism.”
This treatment is recommended to be performed weekly.
ABC said it wants to keep the economy and society thriving. That’s a top priority.
“Together as we adjust temporarily and permanently due to COVID-19, we can make sure that this pandemic doesn’t worsen or even return,” the company spokesperson said. “ABC is ready to serve Houstonians and protect them from this virus.”
Termite protection
Finally, beyond coronavirus, we now have termites to think about. Formosan termites started swarming around the coast of Houston -- and have now migrated inland. They have been spotted all over Houston and even at ABC Home and Commercial’s office in Cypress.
You might not think of termites as aggressive, but Formosans are setting off alarms throughout the state. Their nocturnal swarms during late spring establish huge underground colonies with populations that grow to hundreds of thousands. The timing has been pushed into late May, and Houston needs to be prepared, the experts at ABC Home and Commercial said.
If you’ve seen these termites or think you might have an infestation, officials at ABC recommend that you call a professional to inspect your home and landscaping. Termite colonies can live up to 20 years and produce millions of termites, so you don’t want to take chances with do-it-yourself solutions, the experts added.