ON THE ROAD FOR WORKER PROTECTION

ROAD SHOWS TEACH GROWERS HOW TO BETTER COMPLY WITH FEDERAL STANDARDS

No one likes to read headlines about farm workers being exposed to pesticides. A group of Florida agriculture industry leaders, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), and the University of Florida Pesticide Information Office recently did something to help prevent those situations -- they took their show on the road.

The Worker Protection Standard Road Show traveled throughout Florida between March and May, showing food and nursery growers how to assess their specific level of compliance with federal mandates governing pesticide exposure. Why now? Because these laws change and it's very important to stay current.

Proper protective clothing when applying pesticides is an important part of the Worker Protection Standard.

How to Comply With the Worker Protection Standard for Agricultural Pesticides, a guide published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has been updated to reflect amendments to the Worker Protection Standard (WPS), a regulation designed to protect agricultural workers and pesticide handlers. The WPS contains requirements for pesticide safety training, notification of pesticide applications, use of personal protective equipment, restricted entry intervals following pesticide application, decontamination supplies, and emergency medical assistance. This revised manual provides detailed information on who is covered by the WPS and how to meet regulatory requirements.

The Road Shows offered presentations by FFVA's Dan Botts and Mike Aerts as well as Dale Dubberly and Gloria Lopez from FDACS, Jim Spratt from the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association, and Dr. Fred Fishel from UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. The presentations covered the following topics: record-keeping essentials, central and field posting of notices, revisions to the "How to Comply Manual," worker training and more.

Proper signage is a must to be compliant with the Worker Protection Standard.

"We've had as low as 30 and as high as 130," said Mike Aerts, FFVA's assistant director, Environmental & Pest Management Division, about the turnout at the Road Shows. "As a result of these sessions, I think people are starting to take the WPS more seriously. It's been a part of doing business for more than 11 years now, but changes are always being made and you have to keep up with those changes, now more than ever," he said.

One reason people are paying attention is a new FDACS procedure regarding violations. (State regulatory agencies conduct inspections and impose fines.) As of last February, if FDACS finds a grower in violation of the Standard, there's no such thing as a warning.

The new language is as follows: "There is a violation of the Federal Worker Protection Standard, 40 CFR Part 170, involving one or more of the following: failure to consistently provide pesticide safety training, not including isolated errors or omissions; failure to comply with agricultural worker or handler restricted entry intervals; failure to post treated areas to prevent entry during restricted entry intervals; or failure to provide essential personal protective equipment. In no case shall the fine assessed be less than $250."

But it's not that simple. It's open to interpretation. "If you have a crew of 100 violating REI (restricted entry interval), technically, that could mean 100 violations times 250. It would be well within their right to charge $250 per person," said Aerts.

FFVA's Dan Botts, Director, Environmental & Pest Management Division explains some of the requirements of the Worker Protection Standard.

Besides attending the Road Shows, growers have other resources to help them stay in compliance. UF's Pesticide Information Office (PIO) has been busy developing materials including interactive modules on its website. So far, PIO has posted two modules addressing several of the major problematic WPS compliance areas. Those are: training, worker notification, and central information display. Much of the information in the modules was developed from the Road Shows. See this site for these and other modules.

And the Manual is available from many different sources. "It's distributed in about a thousand different ways," said Aerts. "We've got them. The Pesticide Information Office has them. County offices, EPA, FDACS have them. If people say they can't get a hold of one, I just don't believe them." The Manual may also be downloaded from this site.

And remember, the 2005 Manual supersedes the old version, published in 1993. EPA says continued use of the previous one may lead an employer to be out of compliance.

The 2005 HTC Manual revision was coordinated by EPA's National Agricultural Compliance Assistance Center and a work representing EPA Headquarters, EPA Regional Offices, and several state agencies, with input solicited from USDA and other state and tribal pesticide agencies.

For additional information on the WPS, click here.

EPA recently published this manual outlining procedures necessary to comply with the recently revised federal Worker Protection Standard for Agricultural Pesticides.