Farmworker protection standards: What farmers and their workers need to know

October 27th, 2015 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

The Environmental Protection Agency created the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard to keep farmworkers safe from potential exposure to pesticides and chemicals 1992. The EPA updated and revised the standards to protect workers even more, with a finalized version released on Sept. 28, 2015.

According to an EPA press release, the new standards will be published within 60 days of that date. From there, it will take an additional 14 months before the new rules go into effect. The period of time between the publish date and enforcement will allow farmers to prepare for the updates as needed.

While farmworker advocates are quite happy with the updates, some farmers wanted to be more involved in the process. Steve Ammerman, a Farm Bureau spokesman, told North Country Public Radio farmers fear the bureaucratic and costly training involved in the new standards.

"We just want to make sure they're done properly and that there's a benefit that's proven, and it's not just needless paperwork," Ammerman told North Country Public Radio.

The EPA said the new standards will help protect all farmers, farmworkers and their families. According to the EPA, somewhere between 1,800 and 3,000 pesticide exposure incidents occur annually. The new standards should significantly reduce exposure. Before the new rules are published, it is a good idea for farmers and farmworkers to note the significant changes.

Major changes
There are a number of differences between the 1992 standards and the new ones. Here are some of the most important alterations:

• Worker training will now occur annually. Workers completed training once every 5 years. Also, the new training is more robust than it was before, including information about how exposure can affect families once a worker comes home.
• Farmworkers exposed to pesticides will need to be 18 years of age or older. This is the first time such age restrictions have been placed on the industry.
• Fields containing especially hazardous pesticides must have the proper no entry signage and zones of up to 100 feet around pesticide application equipment will be enforced under the new standards.
• Records must be kept on pesticide application methods and worker training for two years.

Farmers who would like to learn more can view all of the revisions on the EPA's website.