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Ag Center Fact Sheet |
August 2001
Agrichemicals
WPS - Growers Must Inform Commercial Handlers
FOCUS ON
Information Growers Must Provide to
Commercial Handlers
The Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is a regulation issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 and amended in 1995. It covers pesticides that are used in the production of agricultural plants on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses. The WPS requires you to take steps to reduce the risk of pesticide-related illness and injury if you (1) use such pesticides, or (2) employ workers or pesticide handlers who are exposed to such pesticides.
This fact sheet will help you understand how to comply with WPS requirements concerning the information that growers must provide to commercial handlers about pesticide-treated areas.
Information provided by growers to commercial handlers
Operators of farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses must make sure that, whenever a commercial pesticide handler will be doing pesticide handling tasks (including tasks as a crop advisor) on their establishment, the commercial handler's employer knows specific information concerning treated areas on the agricultural establishment.
Operators of agricultural establishments must provide the following information to the commercial pesticide handlers they hire:
- Specific location and description of any areas on the
agricultural establishment:
--that may be treated with a pesticide or be under a restricted-entry interval while the commercial handler will be there, AND
--that the commercial handlers may be in (or walk within 1/4 mile of) - Restrictions on entering those areas.
Operators of commercial pesticide handling establishments must have this information to protect their employees as required by the WPS. They must make sure that, whenever one of their handlers will be doing pesticide handling tasks (including tasks as a crop advisor) on an agricultural establishment, he or she is aware of the required information concerning pesticide-treated areas on the agricultural establishment.
For example, if custom applicators are scheduled to use ground equipment to apply a pesticide on a farm, they need to be informed of any nearby areas on the farm that they should stay out of because the area has an REI in effect. Or if commercial crop advisors are scheduled to scout in an area on a farm that remains under an REI, they need to be told what personal protective equipment they should wear while in that area.
For more information
To get more facts about compliance, contact the Ag Center by phone, fax, or mail. Call the toll-free number to ask compliance questions or order publications. At the Ag Center's Web site you can explore compliance information and order or download publications. For a complete publications list, request document 10001, "Ag Center Publications."
The Ag Center welcomes comments on this document and its other services.
National Agriculture Compliance
Assistance Center
901 North Fifth Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
Toll-free: 1-888-663-2155
Internet: www.epa.gov/agriculture
This page is sponsored by
EPA's Ag Center.