The Termite and Wood Destroying Organism Program, skills program has been developed to enable the pest control operator to become proficient in termite and woodborer identification and eradication procedures. This Skills program has been designed to be used in commercial, industrial and domestic environments where we have to control termites and wood destroying organisms (The Termites and Wood Destroying Organisms Program is based on the following Agriseta Unit Standards 116301, 116429, 116149).

Click here to see a sample of the e-learning material
Click here to register for e-learning. We will respond with the relevant registration documents

Duration

Cost
Maximum of one year to complete
Thereafter student must re-register		 R5800

Training Information

The Termite and Wood Destroying Organisms Program, skills program deals with the following elements:

  1. Inspection for Termites and WDO
  2. Identification of Termites and WDO
  3. Selection of Pesticides / Chemicals/ Fumigants
  4. Selection and Calibration of Equipment
  5. Safety precautions and OHASA recommendations
  6. Application Techniques
  7. Getting to know wood
  8. Fumigation
  9. Wood Preservation

The student will register for the course and receive a password to access the on line training course where the manual format training material is set out in training segments per subject theme. This manual is complimented with a whole host of training videos especially produced to show all the practical elements needed to come to grips with the subject material. For every training segment the learner will complete the required workbook and this will be submitted automatically on line as well. On completion the learner will complete a practical assessment either on line via a Skype platform or in person at our training academy.

Students will receive one year to complete the course after which all access privileges will lapse.

Course Content

SECTION 1: LEARNER NOTES
  1. General information
  2. Topic descriptions
    1. Introductory concepts
    2. Relevant legislation
    3. Getting to know wood
    4. Biology and identification of wood destroying organisms
    5. Wood preservatives and application
    6. Fumigation
    7. Inspection procedure and reports
    8. Recommendations for treatments
    9. Safety
SECTION 2: LEARNING MAP
SECTION 3: INTRODUCTORY CONCEPTS
  1. Introduction
    1. Your job as an inspector
    2. A Sense of responsibility
    3. Understanding of the Job
  2. Definitions
  3. In Conclusion
SECTION 4: RELEVANT LEGISLATION
  1. Name change
  2. South African Standards
  3. Standards applicable to this module
    1. The safe handling of pesticides (SANS 10072)
    2. The application of soil insecticides (SANS 10124)
    3. The preservative treatment of timber (SANS 10005)
    4. The application of fumigants (SANS 10204)
    5. Safety procedures for the disposal of surplus pesticides and associated toxic waste (SANS 10206)
    6. SANS 1288: Specification Preservative-treated Timber
  4. Protocol for the Treatment of Timber
    1. Protocol for the Treatment of Timber
    2. The Standard (SANS 10005) contains the following provisions
  5. Appendix 1
    1. National Building Regulations
    2. National Home Builders Registration
    3. Legislation – The consumer affairs Act 1998
SECTION 5: DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION OF PESTICIDES IN TERMS OF TYPE AND GROUPING
  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. The RSA classification code
    1. Pesticide labels
  3. Pesticide Classification, Properties and Products
    1. Classification according to Target Pest
    2. Classification, Properties and Products
  4. Pesticide formulation
    1. The concept: formulation
    2. What is a formulation?
    3. Types of formulations
    4. Adjuvants
    5. Pesticide Compatibility
    6. Mixes
    7. Preparing a Tank Mix
  5. Insecticide resistance
    1. What is resistance?
    2. Strategies to manage resistance
SECTION 6: INTRODUCTION TO THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT NO. 85 OF 1993
  1. Introduction
  2. Exploring key concepts
  3. Regulatory and enforcement policies
  4. Understanding the responsibilities of all involved
    1. The Business Owner or Chief Executive Officer as the Employer
    2. Line Management (Supervisors) as representatives of the Employer
    3. Duties or responsibilities of employees
  5. Duties or responsibilities of health and safety representative structures
  6. Moving beyond duties and responsibilities
  7. Safe work practices
    1. Work Safely
    2. General Chemical Safety Guidelines
    3. Flammables
    4. Spill Response
    5. Safe storage practices
    6. Hazardous waste – Think Twice Before You Dump It
    7. Mind your back
SECTION 7 WOOD PRESERVATIVES AND APPLICATION
  1. Introduction
  2. The types of timber grown and their importance
    1. Softwoods
    2. Hardwoods
  3. Nature of wood
    1. Wood and trees
  4. Hardwood and softwood
    1. Introduction
    2. Softwoods
    3. Hardwoods
    4. Sapwood and heartwood
  5. Identification of Timbers
    1. Introduction
    2. The Three directional cuts
    3. The Strength of Wood
  6. Correct environment for wood
    1. The moisture relations of wood
    2. Seasoning
    3. Permanent set
    4. Protected and unprotected environments
    5. Damp-proof courses
    6. Ventilation
  7. Deterioration of wood
    1. The classification of environmental conditions
    2. Deterioration of Wood
      • Wooden stairs unprotected by coverings and subject to heavy use, which show a gradual wearing away of the used surfaces (the “treads”).
      • Drawers in furniture used continually and not subject to lubrication, which often wear down and give off a fine dust sometimes confused with the dust from the boreholes of Lyctus beetles (Lyctidae).
  8. Timbers in a building
    1. Types of woodwork
    2. Classification of Timber
  9. Processed wood
  10. Timber used in roof construction
    1. Timber used inside buildings
    2. Timber used outside buildings
  11. Appendix 1
  12. Appendix 2
SECTION 8 BIOLOGY AND IDENTIFICATION OF WOOD-DESTROYING ORGANISMS
  1. Introduction
  2. Wood-boring Insects
    1. Longhorned beetles
    2. The Italian Beetle – Old House Borer
    3. The Brown House Borer
    4. The Wharf Borer
    5. Related Cerambycid pests
    6. Furniture beetles (Anobium punctatum)
    7. Furniture beetles (Nicobium spp.)
    8. The pine bark anobiid
    9. Powder post beetles
    10. The cossonid wood borer
    11. Shot-hole Borers
    12. Jewel Beetles
    13. Bark beetles
    14. Pin-hole Borers
    15. Hide and skin Beetles
    16. Cadelle Beetle
    17. Carpenter Bees
    18. Other Organisms
  3. Subterranean Termite biology
    1. Introduction
    2. General Biology of Termites
    3. Subterranean Termites and Drywood Termites
      1. Wood Inhabiting Termites
      2. Subterranean (Soil tunnelling) Termites
      3. A comparison between drywood and subterranean termites
    4. Economically Important Species
      1. Macrotermes natalensis – Large fungus growing termites
      2. Odontotermes spp – Fungus grower termites
      3. Harvester Termite (Hodotermitidae)
    5. Subterranean Termite Castes & Colony Development
      1. Colony Structure
      2. Colony Formation
      3. Why PCO’s must understand Colony Dynamics
      4. Ants versus Termites
      5. Termites and their environment
      6. Food Acquisition by Termites
      7. Pheromones
      8. Subterranean Termite Infestations/damage
      9. Wood-inhabiting termites
SECTION 9 PRE-CONSTRUCTION PREVENTION METHODS
  1. Introduction
  2. Fungal Decay of Timber
  3. Wood Destroying Fungi
  4. Wood Disfiguring Fungi
  5. Fungal Decay and Moisture
  6. Treatment against Fungal Decay
  7. Management: Pre-construction Methods
    1. Sanitation of the building site
    2. Construction Practices
    3. Termite Barriers
SECTION 10 TERMITE CONTROL PRODUCTS
  1. Introduction
    1. What is a termiticide?
    2. What is soil poisoning?
  2. Products used in Termite Control
    1. Pyrethroids
    2. Borates
    3. Organophosphates and Carbamates
    4. Insect Growth Regulators
    5. Biotermiticides
    6. Foaming Agents
    7. Fumigation
    8. Bait Technology and Application
  3. Summary
SECTION 11 POST-CONSTRUCTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
  1. Introduction
    1. The Starting Point
    2. Terms to Know
  2. Management: Post-construction
    1. Soil treatments
  3. General Treatment Guidelines
    1. Exterior Soil Treatment
    2. Treatment of Foundation Voids in Slab Construction
    3. Treatment Guidelines – Slab Construction (special cases)
    4. Treatment Guidelines for Crawl Space Construction
    5. Treatment Guidelines for Basement Construction
    6. Re-treatments for Soil-applied termiticides
  4. Summary
  5. List & Tables to assist in WDO Identification
SECTION 12 WOOD PRESERVATIVES AND APPLICATION
  1. Introduction
  2. Requirement for an efficient wood preservative
    1. Fungicidal activity
    2. Insecticidal activity
    3. Permanence
    4. Good penetration
    5. Freedom from harmful effects on the wood
  3. Choice of preservatives
    1. Classification of types
    2. South African bureau of standards
  4. Department of Agriculture
  5. Treatment and Processes Recommended
    1. Water Repellents
  6. Fire retardants
  7. Testing wood for the presence of preservatives
  8. Surface brushing and spraying
  9. Immersion, steeping and deluging
    1. Immersion
    2. Steeping
    3. Deluging
  10. Diffusion
  11. Hot/Cold open tank process
  12. Pressure process
  13. Application equipment needed
  14. The low pressure process
  15. The vacuum impregnation or double vacuum process
  16. The full cell pressure process
  17. The “Rueping” empty cell pressure process
SECTION 13 FUMIGATION
  1. What is fumigation?
  2. How does it work?
  3. Methyl Bromide
    1. Physical form
    2. Packing
    3. How it is used
    4. What it is used for?
    5. Method of application
    6. Preparations needed
    7. Ventilation afterwards
    8. Safety precautions
SECTION 14 INSPECTION PROCEDURE & REPORTS
  1. Introduction
  2. Inspection procedure and reports
    1. A planned approach
    2. Active infestations
    3. Pitfalls
    4. Responsibility
    5. The inspection reports
    6. Recommendations
    7. Clearance certificate
    8. Drawings of the wood construction of a roof
SECTION 15 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TREATMENTS
  1. Introduction
  2. Control measures
    1. Drying-out
    2. Removal of the source of infestation
    3. Fumigation
    4. Agreed recommendations by SA Pest Control Association
SECTION 16 SAFETY
  1. Safety precautions
    1. Precautions when inspecting timbers
    2. Precautions when treating built-in timber
    3. Precautions when treating for subterranean termites
    4. Precautions when fumigating with methyl bromide
    5. First Aid
      1. First Aid Kit
      2. First-aid action
    6. Fire extinguishers and precautions
      1. The five groups of fire extinguishers
      2. In Conclusion
      3. Items necessary for a first-aid kit
    7. Safety with electricity
      1. Basic electrical layouts