The
Berry DisPatch
Newsletter of the Wisconsin
Berry Growers Association
November, 2004
Teryl Roper
UW Madison Extension Horticulturalist
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection
continues to do some spot checking for compliance to the Worker Protection
Standard. Each year some growers
are selected at random for compliance checks.
This year action has been taken against some agricultural producers and
other actions are pending. Average
fines plus costs for these cases are about $3900. Here are a few items to consider as you ensure you are in
compliance with the law.
Employee training. All employees who handle pesticides or
who work in areas where pesticides are applied must be trained about pesticide
safety. Persons who handle, mix,
load, or apply pesticides should be certified pesticide applicators. Training associated with obtaining an
application license fills the need for training. For other field employees there are training videos available
that would provide the necessary information.
You should maintain records showing when and how employees were trained
and have the sign the records.
Notification of
pesticide application. This is
commonly called posting. All
pesticide applications must be posted at a location where employees have access. This posting should include the area
treated, when treated, pesticide used, and the date when re-entry is allowed. Depending on the nature of the
application and your location in relation to “sensitive areas” such as
schools, churches, playgrounds, roadways, and residential areas you may have to
post the perimeter of treated fields. Normal
access areas to treated fields should be posted. Signs indicating a pesticide has been applied must meet
federal standards, must be removed after the REI has expired, and are available
from numerous agriculture supply houses.
Personal Protective
Equipment. Pesticide labels for
agricultural use chemicals all have a boxed section describing the personal
protective equipment that must be worn when mixing/loading or applying the
material. It is the responsibility
of the owner to provide PPE to his/her employees.
The PPE must be in good working order and must be available to workers. Don’t store PPE in the same facility
as pesticides to avoid contaminating the equipment.
Restricted Entry
Intervals. All pesticide labels
now show the restricted entry interval for applications of that product on
labeled commodities. There are
provisions for some early entry, but this is usually for “non-contact” work
and usually requires full protective equipment such as rubber boots, coveralls,
rubber gloves and perhaps breathing protection.
Check the label of your products for details.
Decontamination
equipment. Workers must be
provided with decontamination supplies and equipment. This includes fresh water, soap, single
use towels, clean clothing, and eye wash. These
supplies must be available in the immediate proximity of where pesticides are
being applied. Commercial
decontamination kits are available.
Emergency Medical
Assistance. Owners are required
to post where the nearest emergency medical facility (hospital) is. Further, should a worker be exposed to pesticides you are
required to provide transportation to the emergency facility.
In addition to these
requirements WDATCP may also spot check compliance with maintenance of pesticide
application records. While these
are not strictly part of WPS, the data are clearly complimentary. Keeping good pesticide records is as important for you as
they are for other reasons.
More complete information
about the Worker Protection Standard is available from the WDATCP and from the
USDA. The complete text of how to
comply with the standard is available at:
www.usda.gov/agency/oce/oce/labor-affairs/comply.txt
A summary is available at:
www.usda.gov/agency/oce/oce/labor-affairs/wpssumm.txt
More information is also
available through your local county Extension office.