• prohibit handlers from applying a pesticide in a way that will expose workers or other persons,
• exclude workers from areas being treated with pesticides,
• exclude workers from areas that remain under a restricted- entry interval (REI), with narrow exceptions,
• protect early-entry workers who are doing permitted tasks in treated areas during an REI-requirements include special instructions and duties related to correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE),
• notify workers about treated areas so they can avoid inadvertent exposures, and
• protect handlers during handling tasks-requirements include monitoring while handling highly toxic pesticides and duties related to correct use of PPE.

Mitigation

• Decontamination sites-providing handlers and workers an ample supply of water, soap, and towels for routine washing and emergency decontamination,
• Emergency assistance-making transportation available to a medical care facility if an agricultural worker or handler may have been poisoned or injured by a pesticide, and providing information about the pesticide (s) to which the person may have been exposed.

Terms You Need To Know

These definitions will help you determine whether you are affected by the Worker Protection Standard.

• Agricultural plants: Plants grown or maintained for commercial or research purposes. Examples: food, feed, and fiber plants, trees, turf grass, flowers, shrubs, ornamentals, and seedlings.
• Farms: Operations, other than nurseries or forests, that produce agricultural plants outdoors.
• Forests: Operations that produce agricultural plants outdoors for wood fiber or timber products.
• Greenhouses: Operations that produce agricultural plants indoors in an area that is enclosed with nonporous covering and that is large enough to allow a person to enter. Examples: polyhouses, mushroom houses and caves, and rhubarb houses, as well as traditional greenhouses. Malls, atriums, conservatories, arboretums, and office buildings that grow or maintain plants primarily for decorative or environmental benefits are not included.
• Nurseries: Operations that produce agricultural plants outdoors for:
  • transplanting to another location, or
  • flower or fern cuttings.
  Examples: Flowering and foliage plants or trees; tree seedlings; live Christmas trees; vegetable, fruit, and ornamental transplants; and turf grass produced for sod.

• You own or manage a farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse where pesticides are used in the production of agricultural plants.

  Even if you are the owner of the farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse and you or members of your family do all the work there, you are a "WPS employer." You must comply with SOME of the requirements described in this manual, such as restricted-entry intervals and personal protective equipment, and ALL the specific requirements listed in the pesticide labeling. See Agricultural Owner Exemptions

• You hire or contract for the services of agricultural workers to do tasks related to the production of agricultural plants on a farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse. This includes labor contractors and others who contract with growers to supply agricultural laborers.
• You operate a business in which you (or people you employ) apply pesticides that are used for the production of agricultural plants on any farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse.

• You operate a business in which you (or people you employ) perform tasks as a crop advisor on any farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse.

Who Does the WPS Protect?

Owners of agricultural establishments and members of their immediate families are exempt from many WPS requirements. See Protections for Crop Advisors).

Pesticide Handlers

A pesticide handler is anyone who: (1) is employed (including self-employed) for any type of compensation by an agricultural establishment or a commercial pesticide handling establishment that uses pesticides in the production of agricultural plants on a farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse, and (2) is doing any of the following tasks:

• mixing, loading, transferring, or applying pesticides,
• handling opened containers of pesticides,
• acting as a flagger,
• cleaning, handling, adjusting, or repairing the parts of mixing, loading, or application equipment that may contain pesticide residues,
• assisting with the application of pesticides, including incorporating the pesticide into the soil after the application has occurred,

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• entering a greenhouse or other enclosed area after application and before the inhalation exposure level listed on the product labeling has been reached or one of the WPS ventilation criteria has been met to:
  • operate ventilation equipment,
  • adjust or remove coverings, such as tarps, used in fumigation, or
  • check air concentration levels,
• entering a treated area outdoors after application of any soil fumigant to adjust or remove soil coverings, such as tarpaulins,
• performing tasks as a crop advisor: during any pesticide application, before any inhalation exposure level or ventilation criteria listed in the labeling has been reached or one of the WPS ventilation criteria has been met, during any restricted-entry interval,
• disposing of pesticides or pesticide containers.

A person is NOT a handler if he or she only handles pesticide containers that have been emptied or cleaned according to instructions on pesticide product labeling or, if the labeling has no such instructions, have been triple-rinsed or cleaned by an equivalent method, such as pressure rinsing.

A person is NOT a handler if he or she (1) is only handling pesticide containers that are unopened AND (2) is not, at the same time, also doing any handling task (such as mixing or loading).

Examples:

You ARE a handler if you are loading unopened water-soluble packets into a mixing tank (because you are mixing and loading the pesticide).

You are NOT a handler if you:

• purchase pesticides and transport them unopened to an establishment.
• carry unopened containers into a pesticide storage facility.
• transport unopened containers to the site where they are to be mixed, loaded, or applied.

"Agricultural Use Requirements

Use this product only in accordance with its labeling and with the Worker Protection Standard, 40 CFR Part 170. This standard contains requirements for the protection of agricultural workers on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses, and handlers of agricultural pesticides. It contains requirements for training, decontamination, notification, and emergency assistance. It also contains specific instructions and exceptions pertaining to the statements on this label about personal protective equipment, notification of workers, and restricted-entiry intervals."

If you are using a pesticide product with labeling that refers to the Worker Protection Standard, you must comply with the WPS. Otherwise, you will be in violation of Federal law, since it is illegal to use a pesticide product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.

Which Pesticide Uses Are Not Covered?

• on pastures or rangelands,
• for control of vertebrate pests such as rodents,
• as attractants or repellents in traps,
• on the portions of agricultural plants that have been harvested, such as in packing houses or on cut timber,
• for mosquito abatement, Mediterranean fruit fly eradication, or similar government-sponsored wide-area public pest control programs,
• on livestock or other animals, or in or around animal premises,
• on plants grown for other than commercial or research purposes, which may include plants in habitations, home fruit and vegetable gardens, and home greenhouses,
• on plants that are in ornamental gardens, parks, golf courses, and public or private lawns and grounds and that are intended only for decorative or environmental benefit,
• in a manner not directly related to the production of agricultural plants, including, for example, control of vegetation along rights-of-way and in other noncrop areas, and structural pest control, such as termite control and wood preservation,
• for research uses of unregistered pesticides.

The WPS does not cover workers who are working in an area where a pesticide has been injected directly into the plants. However, people who handle pesticides that are to be applied by direct injection ARE covered by the WPS and must receive handler protections.

Who Must Protect Workers and Handlers?

The WPS has very specific definitions for two types of employers. WPS requirements apply only to employers who meet those definitions.

WPS Employer Definitions

Worker employers (called "agricultural employers" in the WPS) are people who:

• employ or contract for the services of workers (including themselves and members of their families) for any type of compensation to perform tasks related to the production of agricultural plants, or
• own or operate an agricultural establishment that uses such workers.
  (See definition of "owner," )
  (See definition of "worker," )
  If you are a worker employer, you are responsible for providing your agricultural worker employees with the protections that the WPS requires for workers.

  Handler Employers:

  Handler employers are people who:

  • employ pesticide handlers (including members of their family), for any type of compensation, or
  • are self-employed as pesticide handlers.
  (See definition of "pesticide handler" )

  If you are a handler employer, you are responsible for providing the pesticide handlers you employ with the protections that the WPS requires for handlers.

  Compensation: Pay or wages, payment through services or goods, or barter of services or goods. If only one person receives payment for the joint work of several people, all are considered to be compensated, and are employees under the WPS. For example, under a piece-rate payment system for harvesting crops, even if payment is issued to the head of the family only, all of the family members who harvest crops are considered employees under the WPS.

  If You Employ Supervisors

  You must:
  • require them to make sure the workers and handlers they supervise comply with the WPS and receive its protections,
  • give them enough information and directions about the WPS requirements to make sure that the workers and handlers they supervise receive the protections required by the WPS, and
  • tell them who is responsible for all actions necessary for compliance with the WPS. Even if you assign an employee to carry out the duties required by the WPS, you are responsible for making sure that all those duties are performed.

    Retaliation Prohibited

    You and your supervisors must not prevent or discourage any worker or handler from complying or attempting to comply with the WPS, and you must not fire or otherwise retaliate against any worker or handler who attempts to comply.

    Penalties for Noncompliance

    The penalty for not complying with the Federal Worker Protection Standard is the same as the penalty for using a pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. In general, the fines can be up to $1,000 per offense for private applicators (owners/operators of agricultural establishments) and other persons and up to $5,000 per offense for commercial applicators (owners/operators of commercial pesticide handling establishments) and other persons. If the WPS is knowingly violated, the criminal penalty can be up to $1,000 and 30 days in jail for private applicators and up to $25,000 and I year in jail for commercial applicators. Most States and Tribes enforce under their own laws and regulations and have their own penalties that may differ from Federal penalties. In addition, some local governments may impose their own pesticide-related ordinances and may impose their own penalties.

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    WPS and Labeling

    Labeling Overrides WPS:

    If the pesticide product labeling contains specific instructions or requirements that conflict with the requirements of the Worker Protection Standard, follow the instructions or requirements on the labeling. For example, some pesticide labeling may:

    • prohibit any early-entry activity, including short-term and emergency tasks.
    • allow an early-entry activity that the WPS does not allow.
    • require the use of personal protective equipment even. if closed systems are used for mixing and loading.
    Exceptions to Labeling Statements:

    The WPS allows you to make certain exceptions to three specific pesticide labeling requirements: personal protective equipment, restricted-entry intervals, and double notification (the requirement on some labeling for both oral warnings and posting treated areas). The WPS statements in the Agricultural Use Requirements box on the product labeling will tell you that the WPS contains these exceptions.

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