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WORTH REPEATING 



WORKER PROTECTION STANDARD FOR AGRICULTURAL PESTICIDES: 



Impact on All New Hampshire Certified Applicators 



Margaret Hagen 



The Worker Protection Stan- 

 dard (WPS) is a Federal 

 regulation designed to 

 protect agricultural workers and 

 pesticide handlers. The WPS re- 

 quires you to take steps to reduce 

 the risk of pesticide-related illness 

 and injury of you i) use agricultural 

 pesticides, or 2) employ workers or 

 pesticide handlers who are ex- 

 posed to such pesticides. 



Labels of agricultural pesticides 

 will require compliance with the 

 WPS. Pesticide companies are 

 modifying labels to include WPS 

 requirements. Labels on over 8,000 

 products must be changed. Each 

 modified label includes an Agricul- 

 tural Use Requirements box stating 

 "Use this product only in compli- 

 ance with its labeling and with the 

 Worker Protection Standard, 40 

 CFT," plus other references to the 

 WPS. Pesticide companies must put 

 the new label on their products by 

 April 21,1994. After October 23, 

 1995, pesticide dealers cannot sell 

 agricultural product with the old la- 

 beling without the WPS references. 



When you use products with 

 WPS labeling, you must comply 

 with specific label requirements. 

 You must observe restricted entry 

 intervals, assure that your pesticide 

 handlers use specified personal 

 protective equipment, and notify 

 workers about applications when 

 the label requires both oral and 

 posted notification (only for pesti- 

 cides in the most toxic category). 



On and after April 15, 1994, 

 additional requirements are 

 needed. Your workers and handlers 

 must receive pesticide safety train- 

 ing. You must post information 

 about pesticide applications in a 

 central location. You must provide 

 decontamination sites with soap, 

 water, and paper towels for work- 

 ers, and a change of coveralls for 

 handlers. You must also notify em- 

 ployees (orally or by posting) 

 about all pesticide applications. 



There are additional WPS require- 

 ments and specific exceptions to 

 these requirements which are de- 

 tailed in Environmental Protection 

 Agency (EPA) "How to Comply" 

 manual. 



On or after April 15, 1994, pesti- 

 cide handlers must be trained be- 

 fore they do any handling task us- 

 ing a pesticide with a WPS label. 

 Workers must be trained before 

 the 16th day that they enter areas 

 where, within the last 30 days, a 

 pesticide has been applied or a re- 

 stricted entry interval is in effect. 

 The 16-day time frame changes to 

 6-day time frame for workers after 

 October 20, 1997. The 16 days (6 

 days) need not be consecutive and 

 may occur over several years of 

 employment. 



Because of the broad scope of 

 the Federal WPS, the NH Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Division of 

 Pesticide Control, under existing 

 rules, will incorporate the standard 

 into the initial certification process 

 for certified pesticide applicators. 

 Those becoming certified will have 

 to demonstrate proficiency in the 

 WPS. This will be accomplished by 

 including a brief worker-protection 

 exam among the tests taken by 

 those applying for certification. 



Those people who are already 

 certified must also demonstrate 

 proficiency In the WPS by passing 

 an exam. This must be done prior 

 to the Issuance of 1995 licenses, 

 regardless of the recertlflcatlon 

 year. 



Specifically, the requirement for 

 taking the worker-protection exam 

 will fall on all certified private ap- 

 plicators, and on commercial appli- 

 cators who are certified in catego- 

 ries Al (Agricultural Pest Control, 

 Fruit), A2 (Christmas Trees), or H 

 (Demonstration and Research 

 where you have tested in one of 

 the above listed categories). This 

 requirement may also apply to 

 commercial applicators in other 



categories who are employed by an 

 agricultural establishment, such as 

 a person holding a GI license who 

 works for a nursery or grounds 

 maintenance company. (It would 

 not, however, include commercial 

 applicators whose activities are 

 non-agricultural in nature, such as 

 residential or right-of way applica- 

 tions.) All certified applicators 

 who pass the worker protection 

 exam will be considered qualified 

 to conduct pesticide safety training 

 of their workers and pesticide han- 

 dlers, required under the stan- 

 dard. Note, however, that certified 

 applicators who have not yet 

 passed the worker protection 

 exam will not be considered qual- 

 ified to train workers or handlers, 

 and may have difficulty complying 

 with that aspect of the Worker 

 Protection Standard when it goes 

 into effect on April 13 of this 

 year. 



To obtain study materials for the 

 WPS you can contact Faye Cragin 

 or Dr. Stanley Swier at the UNH 

 Cooperative Extension Entomology 

 Department at 131 Main Street, 

 Nesmith Hall, Room 23, UNH, 

 Durham, NH 03824-3597 (phone 

 862-1159). There is no charge for 

 the study materials but there is a 

 $3 mailing charge. In addition to 

 the EPA manuals, each County Co- 

 operative Extension office has a 

 videotape (3 hours long) of the 

 January training session held in 

 Durham. Tapes can be borrowed 

 for a $5 returnable deposit. 



To schedule a WPS exam contact 

 the Division of Pesticide Control in 

 Concord (271-3550) or the agricul- 

 tural resources educator in your 

 County Cooperative Extension 

 office. The Division of Pesticide 

 Control is planning to schedule 

 exams in each county. ^ 



Margaret Hagen is Extension Educator, 

 UNH Cooperative Extension, Hillsborough 

 County, her phone there is 

 (603) 673-2510. 



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The Plantsman 



