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label, and use only those that have state and federal
registration. Avoid drift to nontarget areas. Dusts drift
more than sprays; airblast sprays drift more than boom
sprays. When cleaning or filling application equipment,
do notcontaminate streams, ponds, or other water
supplies. Always keep a record of all pesticides used.
Reentry Period (Restricted Entry Interval
- REI)
Unprotected persons should not be allowed to enter
the treated area until sufficient time has passed to ensure
that there is no danger of excessive exposure. In no case
during the reentry period are farm workers allowed to enter
the treated area to engage in activity requiring substantial
contact with the treated crop. Protective clothing and
safety equipment may be needed for all persons, including
farm workers, entering the treated areas. See N.J.A.C.
7:30-10 Farm Worker Safety, for specific information
regarding reentry time and other regulations about Farm
Worker Safety.
In April of 1994, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) implemented new regulations on worker
safety which are impacting agriculture throughout the
U.S. These regulations, called the Federal Worker
Protection Standard--CFR Title 40, Part 170 (WPS),
provide specific safety requirements for both pesticide
handlers and general agricultural workers. It also requires
chemical manufacturers to modify their product labels to
reflect these new rules. The following is a brief
explanation of the WPS regulations.
The WPS regulations state that any agricultural
establishment who employs either pesticide handlers or
agricultural workers must comply. An agricultural
establishment includes farms, greenhouses, nurseries, and
forests. It also includes labor contractors and custom
pesticide applicators or independent crop consultants who
are hired by these establishments.
What must be done can be divided into three areas of
compliance: Information, Protection, and Mitigation.
All three must be conducted at covered establishments.
Information. To ensure that employees are
informed about exposure to pesticides, employers must
provide certain information to their workers. This
includes providing pesticide safety training to both
pesticide handlers and agricultural workers. This training
must follow the EPA approved format and use approved
training materials. The level of training required depends
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on how the worker is employed. Use the following
definitions to determine which level of training is
required.
Pesticide handlers--Those persons who are
employed by an agricultural establishment or commercial
pesticide application company who mix, load, or apply
pesticides; who handle opened pesticide containers; who
act as a flagger; who clean, maintain, or repair application
equipment; who assist with the application of a pesticide;
who enter a treated greenhouse to operate ventilation
equipment; who adjust orremove coverings or check air
levels; who enter an outdoor area that has been fumigated
to adjust orremove soil coverings; who perform tasks as
a crop advisor; or who dispose of pesticides or their
containers.
Agricultural Worker--Those persons who are
employed by the agricultural establishment to perform
tasks such as harvesting, weeding, or watering, relating to
the production of agricultural plants on a farm, forest,
nursery, or greenhouse.
Other requirements for providing information include
displaying a pesticide safety poster, access to label
information for pesticide handlers and early entry workers,
and the posting of information about pesticide
applications conducted at the establishment in a centrally
located area.
Protection. Employers are required to ensure that
employees will be protected from exposures to pesticides.
To accomplish this, employers must prohibit application
methods that will expose workers during applications.
They must also provide personal protective equipment
(PPE) to handlers and monitor handlers when highly
toxic pesticides are used (See Table 1.1). Workers must
also be kept out of treatment areas during applications.
One of the changes that will appear on product labels
to protect workers are Restricted Entry Intervals (REIs).
REIs are equivalent to reentry times and represent the
period of time that must pass between the end of an
application and when treated areas can be entered without
PPE. In most cases, REIs are based on the product's
toxicity and can range between 4 and 48 hours. When
WPS covered products are applied, employers are required
to notify all workers about any REI in effect and to keep
workers from entering treated areas during the REI.
Finally, there are situations when workers are allowed
to enter treated areas before the end of an REI. However,
when this occurs, early entry workers must be given PPE
prescribed for early entry by the product label prior to
entry if they will contact treated surfaces. In this
situation, early entry is only allowed after at least 4 hours
have passed since the end of the application. After this,
entry is allowed only to do nonhand labor tasks for up to
one hour per day.
Mitigation. To mitigate or lessen the impact of
pesticide exposures that employees do receive, employers
must provide decontamination sites and emergency
assistance. Decontamination sites must contain a supply
of water, soap and towels for routine washing and
emergency decontamination. Emergency assistance
includes transportation to medical care facilities in the
event of a pesticide-related injury and providing
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