New WPS Requirements

Effective as of January 2, 2017, employers of pesticide handlers will be required to comply with most of the new requirements included in the 2015 revision of the WPS (some effective dates have been extended). The changes include the following:

• The required frequency of full training for handlers has been increased to annually.
• The content of handler training has been expanded to include 36 items (effective January 1, 2018).
• Employers must retain training records for two years and provide a record of training to handlers upon request.
• Employers must display pesticide application information and safety data sheets at central locations within 24 hours of end of application and before workers enter the treated area, display both for 30 days after the restricted-entry interval expires, and keep on hand for two years from the end of the restricted-entry interval; materials must be made available to workers, handlers, designated representatives, or treating medical personnel upon request.
• Employers must post a warning sign if the restricted-entry interval is greater than 48 hours for outdoor applications or four hours for enclosed space applications.
• Employers must notify agricultural employers before an application begins of certain changes, and within two hours of end of application for most other changes.
• The minimum age requirement for handlers is 18 years old.
• Handlers must suspend a pesticide application if a worker or other person is in the application exclusion zone, which is defined as an area of up to 100 feet around the application equipment.
• Employers must display pesticide safety information at a central location and at sites where decontamination supplies are located.
• Pesticide safety information must be displayed, in any format - not limited to a poster - with content meeting new requirements (effective January 1, 2018).
• Employers must provide respirator and fit testing, training, and OSHA-compliant medical evaluation to any handler required by pesticide labeling to wear a respirator; they also must keep records of fit test, training, and medical evaluation.
• Closed systems must meet a broad performance-based standard and employers able to train handlers in the use of the system.
• If product labeling requires eye protection, pilots in open cockpits may wear a helmet with lowered face shield instead of label-required eye protection.
• Handlers in enclosed cabs must wear labeling-specified respiratory protection, except when the only labeling-specified respiratory protection is a particulate filtering facepiece respirator.
• Employers must provide three gallons of decontamination water for each handler.
• Employers must provide an eye wash system for handlers that is capable of delivering 0.4 gallons per minute for 15 minutes, or six gallons able to flow gently for 15 minutes at a mixing and loading site if handlers use products requiring eye protection or use a pressurized closed system.
• Employers must provide the following to treating medical personnel: safety data sheets; product name, EPA registration number, and active ingredient; and circumstances of exposure.

To learn more about Pesticide Handler Safety visit our Pesticide Handler Safety Online Training web page.