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Pesticide Worker Safety
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Requirements for Emergency Assistance Under the Worker Protection Standard

On this page:
  • Make transportation available
  • Provide information to medical personnel
  • For more information

Employers at agricultural establishments must provide emergency assistance to a worker or handler on their:

  • farm;
  • forest;
  • nursery; or
  • greenhouse

if there is reason to believe that the worker or handler has experienced a pesticide exposure during his or her employment or shows symptoms similar to those associated wiht acute exposure to pesticides and needs medical treatment. Common ways for handlers and workers to be exposed to pesticides used on the agricultural establishment include:

  • application;
  • spills;
  • splashes;
  • drift; or
  • contact with pesticide residues.

Make Transportation Available

Employers must promptly make transportation available to take the worker or handler to an operating medical facility capable of providing emergency medical treatment to a person exposed to pesticides.

Employers can "make transportation available" by:

  • Taking the employee to the medical facility.
  • Calling an emergency vehicle, such as an ambulance.
  • Making sure the employee has a ride to the medical facility with someone else.

Provide Information to Medical Personnel

Employers must provide the following information to treating medical personnel promptly:

  • The safety data sheet, product name, EPA registration number and active ingredients for any product(s) to which the person may have been exposed.
  • Description of the way the pesticide was being used.
  • Circumstances of the worker’s or handler’s exposure to the pesticide.

For More Information

  • How to Comply Manual, Chapter 2
  • Emergency Information
  • Información para emergencias
  • Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings Manual
  • Reconocimiento y Manejo de los Envenenamientos por Pesticidas
  • Pesticide Worker Safety Home
  • How EPA Protects Workers from Pesticide Risk
  • Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings
  • In Case of Pesticide Poisoning
  • Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS)
  • How to Get Certified as a Pesticide Applicator
  • Pesticide Containers
  • Pesticide Containment Structures
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on June 15, 2022
United States Environmental Protection Agency

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