Most pesticides we use on the farm are covered by Worker Protection Standards (WPS) regulations. With these pesticides there is an “Agricultural Use Requirements” box near the start of the Direction for Use section that outlines the requirements when these products are on farms, forests, or nurseries. This boxes states that in these instances, uses most abide by all of the WPS requirements. However, most of these WPS requirements are not listed on the label, but they are all required by law.
One of those requirements is annual training of your ag workers that will work within 1/4 mile of a field that in the past 30 days had a restricted entry interval in place. All workers must receive the WPS ag worker training before they go into these fields, there is no grace period. Employees handling pesticides require additional training as WPS Handlers. The requirements for training are very specific and the materials must be approved by the EPA. How many employers handle this is by using an approved WPS Worker or Handler video then answering questions their employees may have. This along with the WPS training record that must be completed will fulfill the annual WPS training requirement.
To get these materials, you can visit the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative (PERC) website. On the PERC website, they have a WPS standard compliance assistance library with prepared presentations and videos in several languages that have been approved by the EPA to meet these requirements. These materials are all free of charge. Some of the videos may be available through your local extension office as well.
Ric Bessin, Extension Entomologist
Kentucky Pest News 