National president of AEPMA, David Gay, gives an update on the current happenings in the industry.
Easter has come and gone, signalling the start of autumn. For most pest managers the change of season sees a change in the pests we are dealing with on a daily basis. Rodent activity ingress into homes and buildings increases, replacing the spiders, ants and flying insects that keep us busy through the summer months.
Fortunately for the termite professionals, termite activity and enquiries remain strong and autumn house sales will continue the demand for professional pest inspections for would-be property buyers.
As the workload for most now becomes a little less chaotic, now is the time for members to log on to the AEPMA website in the ‘Members’ section and review their company profile, the services offered and the areas serviced by postcode.
The leads and referrals, along with consumers using the site to verify if their pest manager is an AEPMA member and a professional, is what sets members apart from the non-members. Potentially, this is worth many thousands of dollars to members in new work, or work they would not have won without being listed on the AEPMA website.
AEPMA membership is continuing to rise. This indicates that as our industry becomes more complex with regulation, compliance and expected customer service levels and outcomes, membership of AEPMA makes good business and financial sense.
Codes of Practice are now very much a part of AEPMA’s core activities. Whilst Australian Standards still exist for sectors of our industry, specifically termites, pre-construction termite barriers and inspections, they are very limited in content and overall value. That is to say that they don’t really allow for innovation and advancements in both best practice or customer needs. All of the Codes of Practice developed by AEPMA address both the pest manager’s needs and the consumer’s general needs.
Whilst most of our Codes of Practice are still quite new, we are already seeing benefits for pest managers and consumers alike, by having documents that are clear and easy to understand.
So I urge all professional pest managers to go to the website and download the most current versions and read them. We really need ongoing input to truly ensure that we are representing current trends, innovations, and most importantly, best practice from the professionals in the field.
Codes of Practice are only a part of the core activities that AEPMA is driving. Conference organisation, state branch activities and liaison with our regulators and other government bodies are also constant and ongoing. All this is made possible by the many volunteer board, branch and committee members from around Australia that contribute to make this great industry better.
We are lucky as an industry and an association that we have so many talented people amongst us. We don’t need to import knowledge or experts from abroad, and we don’t need government regulators ‘designing’ our industry’s future, providing we keep innovating and improving.
To highlight this, the industry ‘Pest Manager of the Year Awards’ offer pest management businesses an opportunity to benchmark themselves against the best in the industry along with previous winners. As an added incentive, participation in the awards is a great way to align your staff and build a competitive professional culture, so good luck to all those who have entered and are involved.
Until next issue.
David Gay, National President, AEPMA
