All By Myself…. That’s NOT a Good Thing

We learned to use the “Buddy System” when we were very young. We held our parent’s hand when crossing the street. We never swim alone. We had elementary school playground friends.

Several types of businesses have multiple people on shift together, in the same area, at the same time. Retail stores. Restaurants. Medical professionals. Banks. Pilots. Electricians. Construction workers. Manufacturing. Lawncare. Semi-truck drivers are more often tandem than not.

This led me to wonder why pest management companies see the need to send us on a route ALL BY OURSELVES. There is safety in numbers, right? After our training and probationary period, we, as pest professionals, connect with the public and our clients all alone. The more I think about this, the more concerned I am.

• Where is my buddy?
• Can my coworkers get to me quickly in an emergency?
• If I have a heated argument with a customer, who will be my witness?
• More work plus two people equals great time management.

I can think of many scenarios where a work partner would be beneficial. Safety is the main instance. I’ve been in situations where I could have used a buddy while on my pest control route.

During a new account setup, I was placing multi catch traps in the building on the property that is furthest from the main office. As I stepped down from a small ledge, I fell. An ankle popped. An elbow was bleeding. One knee of my pants was ripped. As I lay there for a minute, trying to decide if I could walk (I could not), I found the broken concrete that was detrimental to my incident. Tears were streaming down my face. I said a few swear words. I wondered how I was going to finish the day. I managed to hobble to the truck with equipment in hand. That foot, ankle, and knee were feeling like a million pain points. So, where was my buddy? My coworker that day was my husband, who had already gone home fifteen minutes before. I did let him know immediately what happened.

I did inform the facility management so they could make repairs to the concrete. Since this was my incident, and not with a facility employee, there were no forms for me to sign. The client did make note of my injuries and the scene where it happened per their protocol.

Pest management employees should, and need to, use the buddy system. Yes, it’s takes away from the quantity of work getting done. Yes, it costs more to pay multiple people on a job. Yes, it might confuse the customer about who the main technician is. Yes, the coworkers may not like each other. Yes, the Buddy System works to keep us and our clients safe.