Early-Entry Worker Situations

Employers must provide special protections to any of their workers who perform early-entry tasks that involve contact with soil, air, water, or plant surfaces that have been treated with a pesticide. Early entry that involves contact with treated surfaces is permitted in only four work situations, as follows:

• Short-term tasks that last less than one hour and do not involve hand labor
• Limited-contact tasks that could not have been foreseen, cannot be delayed, and do not involve hand labor
• Emergency tasks that take place because of an agricultural emergency
• Specific tasks approved by the EPA through a formal exception process

Employers should make every effort to schedule pesticide applications and worker tasks in a way that will avoid the necessity of early entry of workers into treated areas.

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