Labor shortages continue to challenge pest control companies across the country. To keep routes covered, many businesses are expanding their hiring pool and bringing on first-time or less experienced drivers. While this approach can solve short-term staffing needs, it often introduces a different kind of risk - one that shows up quickly in claims, costs, and operational challenges.

As outlined in our February 2026 blog, The True Cost of Hiring Inexperienced Drivers, the early months behind the wheel are the most dangerous for new drivers . The good news is that many of these risks can be reduced before a new hire ever starts their first route by making smarter, experience-focused hiring decisions.

Experience Is a Risk Control, Not Just a Resume Line

When evaluating candidates, it is easy to prioritize availability, attitude, and willingness to work. While those traits matter, driving experience is one of the most important and often overlooked risk controls a company can use.

Research consistently shows that experience, not age, is the stronger predictor of crash risk. Drivers who have spent more time behind the wheel develop critical skills that cannot be replicated in a short onboarding period, including:

• Anticipating hazards before they develop

Every day, an estimated 1,000 eye injuries occur in American workplaces.

Most of them are preventable.

Workplace Eye Wellness Month serves as an important reminder that vision protection is not optional PPE - it is essential risk control. For pest control technicians, eye hazards are part of the daily environment. Whether working in crawl spaces, attics, exterior perimeters or commercial facilities, flying debris, pesticide splashes, dust and protruding objects create constant exposure risks.

The Data Tells the Story

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nearly three out of every five workers who suffered eye injuries were not wearing eye protection at the time of the accident.

Even more concerning, many who were injured were wearing the wrong type of protection - typically standard eyeglasses without side shields.

In pest control operations, that gap between “having eyewear” and “wearing the correct protection” can result in serious, and sometimes irreversible, injury.

Common Eye Injury Risks for Pest Control Technicians

Technicians routinely encounter multiple eye hazards during service calls, including:

• Flying objects such as bits of wood, insulation, metal or concrete
• Dust and airborne particles in attics and crawl spaces
• Chemical splashes, mists or vapors from liquid or powder formulations