Operations and facilities staff will be your partners and collaborators in this work. 

What is their role and how can they help you promote IPM?

• Custodial –  They are integral to your IPM program and without them your IPM program will be difficult to implement. Beyond their duties, they can help you by reporting pest sightings.
• Facilities and Trades – These specialists ensure that your buildings are maintained and functioning properly. This includes temperature and humidity, building seals (interior and exterior), and general care. 
• Shipping and Receiving – Those responsible can be notified of IPM risks involved in bringing any deliveries into the institution. 
• Grounds – They can share valuable information with you regarding seasonal outbreaks, pest activity they observe, and pesticide usage outside that may affect the level of risk to your building.  Knowledge about exterior plant design and choice of plants play an integral role in preventing potential pest activity. 

How can you help Building Management help you?

• Understand their workload and current capacity when initiating requests and keep your expectations reasonable. 
• Provide a way for staff to communicate with the IPM team when pests are found. 
• Provide materials for them to collect pests.
• Offer your assistance wherever you can – for example, if an outside contractor is coming in, offer to give them the run down on IPM policy or escort them and point out possible pest risks within the area they are working.
• Be sensitive – some people may find the discussion about pests difficult or repulsive.
• Provide training showing what staff can do to uphold an effective IPM program.
• If it is within your job scope, develop templates of IPM related inclusions for contracts.

Security staff are vital partners in IPM. They have access to most, if not all, areas and make frequent checks throughout buildings’ spaces.

What is their role and how can they help you promote IPM?

Security staff have many responsibilities that already coincide with IPM practices.

• They are likely to be the first people to notice abnormal environmental conditions, unusual activities, food and drink in collection areas, day or nighttime pest activities, and keeping doors secure and closed.
• Their role is to alert visitors and staff to alarms tied to the security system, fire system, and other systems such as freezer alarms, etc. 

How can we help Security staff help us?

• Provide a way for staff to communicate with the IPM team when pests are found. 
• Provide materials for them to collect pests.
• Keep your expectations reasonable.
• Provide training showing what staff can do to uphold an effective IPM program.

Conservators, Registrars, Collection Managers, Archivists, Scientists, and Art Handlers are your potential best allies as it is their primary responsibility to care and preserve the collections. Many collections staff members contribute to pest monitoring programs. 

What is their role and how can they help you promote IPM?

• These professionals can report pest related damage to the collection in advance of a full scale infestation as well as abnormal environmental conditions.
• These professionals are often working in and cleaning collection spaces and may notice pest activity.
• Often unpack and move incoming collection materials and loans and can be diligent to report and remediate any found pests. 

How do we help those who work with museum collections help us?

• Provide training showing what staff can do to uphold an effective IPM program. 
• Provide a way for staff to communicate with the IPM team when pests are found. 
• Keep your expectations reasonable.
• Include IPM in policies for incoming and outgoing loans, visitor policy, treatments, etc.
• Encourage reporting of pest activity by those using the collection, including visiting staff, and external researchers.
• Separate collections storage from areas where food and drink are consumed.

These front of house employees bring the visitors into the museum, train docents and volunteers, interact with visitors, and generally act as a welcoming host engaging the public with our collections. 

What is their role and how can they help you promote IPM?

• Partner in teaching IPM education.
• They can maintain a tidy storage room of their supplies.
• Promote staff and volunteer cooperation with IPM policy.
• They can be an ally for the reduction of pesticide use and poison, since Educators frequently work with children and vulnerable communities.

How do we help those who work in the education department help us?

• Provide training showing what staff can do to uphold an effective IPM program. 
• Provide a way for staff to communicate with the IPM team when pests are found. 
• Keep your expectations reasonable.
• Encourage the use of designated areas for eating, food or snack storage.

These professionals regularly come in contact with our collections, design the presentation of the artifacts for the viewing public, and create the casework in which the collection items are displayed.

What is their role and how can they help you promote IPM?

• Thoughtful casework design can eliminate the access of pests to collection items, such as gasketing between vitrines and pedestals, and closed bottom cases.
• Create display layout which allows for easy cleaning, limiting inaccessible areas, and options for IPM monitoring.

How do we help those who work in the exhibitions department help us?

• Provide training showing what staff can do to uphold an effective IPM program. 
• Provide a way for staff to communicate with the IPM team when pests are found. 
• Keep your expectations reasonable.

While not necessary for initial buy-in, these professionals are integral to maintaining a successful IPM program. The materials that they bring into the museum should be evaluated at the same level as incoming collections and loans. 

What is their role and how can they help you promote IPM?

• Maintain clean work spaces and storage areas.
• Ensure trash is removed regularly.
• Inspect incoming deliveries for any pests. 
• Make sure patrons are only eating and drinking in designated areas.

How do we help those who work in retail and food services help us?

• Provide training showing what staff can do to uphold an effective IPM program. 
• Provide a way for staff to communicate with the IPM team when pests are found. 
• Keep your expectations reasonable.
• If you are working with external vendors for events, introduce the IPM policy to them, explain the importance of IPM for the collection, and if possible do a walkthrough to show appropriate areas for food prep, trash etc. 

These professionals focus on staff development. Knowledge of professional competencies is part of their managing staff hiring and promotion processes.

What is their role and how can they help you promote IPM?

• As an integral part of onboarding, staff IPM training could occur at orientation (volunteers, interns, students, staff).
• Promote a positive, safe, and healthy environment.

How do we help those who work in the human resources department help us?

• Develop explanations on IPM functions and suggest sample IPM related inclusions for job descriptions.
• Be sensitive – some people may find the discussion about pests difficult or repulsive.
• Provide information that they can share with staff members. See the Awareness and Training page.

Make your IPM policy available to external vendors for viewing and compliance. If possible, set up a time to walk through any spaces and explain pest procedures.

Working with Pest Management Professionals

Not every institution has the resources to meet all of their pest prevention challenges in-house. Cultural Institutions often contract a Pest Management Professional (PMP) to provide or supplement IPM services. The resources here were developed by the MuseumPests Working Group to help institutions develop effective, collaborative relationships with their PMPs. For working with Pest Management Professionals specifically, see the Working with Pest Management Professionals page.