Protected Parties

The WPS requires employers to take steps to protect two types of agricultural employees: workers and pesticide handlers. The terms "worker" and "pesticide handler" are defined very specifically in the WPS, and employers of people who meet these definitions must comply with the WPS. Depending on the tasks performed, the same employee might receive worker protections on some occasions and handler protections on other occasions. Under the WPS, the same individual may be both a worker and an employer of workers, or both a pesticide handler and an employer of pesticide handlers.

A worker is anyone who is employed (including an individual who is self-employed) for any type of compensation, and who is doing tasks, such as harvesting, weeding, or watering, relating to the production of agricultural plants on a farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse. This term does not include individuals who are employed by a commercial establishment to perform tasks as crop advisors.

A pesticide handler is anyone who is employed (including an individual who is 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 who is doing any of the following tasks:

• Mixing, loading, transferring, or applying pesticides, including loading unopened water-soluble packets into a mixing tank
• Handling open 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
• Entering a greenhouse or other enclosed area after a pesticide application, and before the inhalation exposure level listed on the product label has been reached or one of the WPS ventilation criteria have been met, to operate ventilation equipment, adjust or remove coverings used in fumigation, or check air concentration levels
• Entering a treated area outdoors to adjust or remove soil coverings after the application of any soil fumigant
• Performing tasks as a crop advisor in the following circumstances: during any pesticide application, before any inhalation exposure level or ventilation criteria shown on the pesticide label has been reached, before one of the WPS ventilation criteria has been met, or during any restricted-entry interval
• Disposing of pesticides or pesticide containers

A person is not defined as a handler if he or she is doing the following:

• Purchasing pesticides and transporting them unopened to an establishment
• Carrying unopened containers into a pesticide storage facility
• Transporting unopened containers to the site where they are to be mixed, loaded, or applied
• Only handling pesticide containers that have been emptied or cleaned according to instructions on the pesticide product label; or, if the label has no such instructions, only handling pesticide containers that have been triple-rinsed or cleaned by a similar method, such as pressure rinsing

Handlers who are currently certified as applicators of restricted-use pesticides are entitled to all of the handler protections required by the WPS, with one exception - their employers are not required to give them WPS training.

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