If you own, or are responsible for the management or condition any of the following types of businesses which use pesticides for the production of agricultural plants, and employ workers or handlers, you must comply with the WPS:

• Farms
• Forests
• Nurseries
• Enclosed space production facilities (producing plants indoors or in a structure or space that is covered in whole or part by any nonporous covering and is large enough for a person to enter)

*If the agricultural establishment hires or contracts for the services of agricultural workers (uses a labor contractor) to do tasks relating to the production of the agricultural plants, they are responsible for WPS compliance, NOT the labor contractor.

WPS Exemptions for Owners & Immediate Family members

WPS exempts owners of agricultural establishments and members of their immediate family from certain requirements. More information on these exemptions can be found in Chapter 6 of the How to Comply Manual.

It is important to note that:

• No agricultural establishments that use WPS-labeled pesticide products are completely exempt from the WPS requirements,
• Owners/agricultural employers must provide full WPS protections for workers and handlers who are not in the owners’ immediate families, and
• Owners and their immediate family members that qualify for the exemption must comply with some of the WPS requirements.

Under WPS, a labor contractor is a person, other than a commercial pesticide handler, who employs workers or handlers to perform tasks on an agricultural establishment for an agricultural employer or a commercial pesticide handler employer. The labor contractor can be assigned WPS responsibilities (such as providing pesticide safety training)  but is not responsible for WPS compliance on the agricultural establishment or commercial pesticide handling establishment.

If you operate a business in which you, or the people you employ as handlers, apply pesticides that are used in the production of agricultural plants in any of the businesses listed above, you must comply with the WPS.  Read Chapter 5 of the How to Comply Manual for more information on your responsibilities.

*If your employees are licensed commercial pesticide applicators, you do not need to provide handler pesticide safety training. However, you must comply with all other WPS provisions for Commercial Pesticide Handling Establishments.

If you operate a business in which you or the people you employ act as crop consultants or crop scouts, meaning that you assess pest numbers or damage, pesticide distribution, or the status, condition, or requirements of agricultural plants, you must comply with the WPS.

The WPS does not require a “crop advisor” to have any specific certification or training to be recognized as a crop advisor. However, certain WPS exemptions apply only to certified crop advisors.

Non-certified crop advisors must be provided with the WPS protections required for worker or handler activities depending on the tasks being conducted by the crop advisor. The crop advisor employer (including the self-employed crop advisor) is responsible for providing all required WPS protections to noncertified crop advisors.

More information on the exemptions and exceptions for crop advisors is found in Chapter 6 of the How to Comply Manual.

The best way to protect your workers and to decrease your liability is to ensure that workers are well-informed about how to work safely with pesticides. WPS requires that you provide the following to your workers:

1. Pesticide safety training. You must provide in-depth pesticide safety training for both pesticide handlers and agricultural workers. EPA has specific requirements for the content of this training. Use our WPS training page to learn more.
2. Pesticide safety poster. You must display a pesticide safety poster at a central location. This poster must have been developed by the EPA like the one at right, or must contain specific information listed in the How to Comply Manual.  The manual and posters are available for purchase from NPSEC.
3. Pesticide application and hazard information (SDS) and access to the information — centrally-located pesticide application information and safety data sheets (SDS) in an area accessible to workers and handlers. This information must be kept for 2 years on the establishment and must be provided to the employee, medical personnel or the employee’s designated representative upon request.
4. Notify workers about treated areas — posting signs or providing oral notification to avoid inadvertent pesticide exposures.
5. Information exchange — between commercial pesticide handler employers and agricultural employers.

In order to ensure that your employees are protected from pesticide exposure, the WPS requires employers to do the following:

1. Exclude workers and others from areas being treated with pesticides.
2. Exclude workers and others from the application exclusion zone (AEZ) within the boundaries of the agricultural establishment during pesticide applications.
3. Exclude workers from areas that remain under a restricted-entry interval (REI), with narrow exceptions.
4. Ensure a pesticide handler or an early-entry worker (one that enters a treated site prior to the expiration of the REI) be a minimum of 18 years old.
5. Prohibit handlers from applying a pesticide in a way that will expose workers or other persons.
6. Protect handlers during handling tasks including monitoring while handling highly toxic pesticides.
7. Provide, maintain and ensure the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) including enhanced protections for the use of respirators.
8. Protect early-entry workers who are doing permitted tasks in treated areas during a REI, including special instructions and duties related to correct use of PPE.

In addition, the WPS requires handlers to:

• Apply pesticides in a way that will not expose workers or other persons.
• Suspend applications if anyone, other than a trained and equipped handler involved with the application, is in the AEZ during a pesticide application (which may be outside the establishment’s property boundary).
• Wear PPE specified on the pesticide product labeling.

All workers must be trained before working in any field where a WPS-labeled pesticide has been applied within the last 30 days of the REI expiring. Handlers must be trained before any handling tasks. You are not required to conduct pesticide safety training if the worker or handler:

• Is currently a certified applicator of restricted-use pesticides
• Is currently trained as a handler who works under the supervision of a certified pesticide applicator
• Is certified as a crop advisor by a program acknowledged as appropriate in writing by EPA, or a State or Tribal agency responsible for pesticide enforcement. For more information, contact Colorado Certified Crop Advisor Program

There is no grace period for WPS training!

The agricultural employer must ensure that WPS training is completed within the last 12 months before:

• Any worker enters a treated area on an agricultural establishment where, within the last 30 days, a WPS-labeled pesticide product has been used or a REI for such pesticide has been in effect.
• Any handler conducts any handling task.

Training must be conducted every 12 months, with the ‘clock ticking’ at the end of the month in which training was provided.

The person who conducts worker or handler training must:

• Currently be a certified applicator of restricted-use pesticides (in any category of certification), or
• Currently be designated as a trainer of certified pesticide applicators, handlers, or workers by the EPA or the state, or tribal agency having jurisdiction, or
• Have completed an EPA-approved pesticide safety train-the-trainer program for trainers of workers.

Trainers of workers or handlers must:

• Use EPA-approved training materials,
• Present the training orally from written materials or audio visually,
• Present the information in a manner that the trainees can understand, using a translator if necessary,
• Be present at all times during the training to respond to trainees’ questions, and
• Ensure training quality by providing an environment conducive to training that is reasonably free of distractions.
• Maintain a training verification record for 2 years. There is no specific form required but one that meets the requirements is available here: WPS-Verification Pesticide Safety Training form for Employees

Employers must comply with the following when providing training:

• Provide training in a manner that the workers or handlers can understand, using a translator if necessary.
• Present training using EPA-approved materials either orally from written materials or audio-visually.
• Keep records of worker or handler training for 2 years.
• Make training records available to employees upon request.

Training for agricultural workers is required before they enter into treated areas where a WPS-labeled pesticide has been applied in the last 30 days or a REI for such pesticide has been in effect.

Training for workers must include the following information:

• The agricultural employer must inform workers and handlers, in a manner they understand, about the location of the following on the establishment:
  • Pesticide safety information
  • Pesticide application and hazard information, and
  • Decontamination supplies.
• Worker training materials must be approved by EPA and must include, at a minimum, all of the following topics
  1. The responsibility of agricultural employers to provide workers and handlers with information and protections designed to reduce work-related pesticide exposures and illnesses. This includes:
     • Ensuring workers and handlers have been trained on pesticide safety,
     • Providing pesticide safety and application and hazard information, decontamination supplies and emergency medical assistance,
     • Notifying workers of restrictions during applications and on entering pesticide treated areas, and
     • Informing a worker or handler that they may designate in writing a representative to request access to pesticide application and hazard information.
  2. How to recognize and understand the meaning of the posted warning signs used for notifying workers of restrictions on entering pesticide treated areas on the establishment.
  3. How to follow directions and/or signs about keeping out of pesticide treated areas subject to a REI and application exclusion zones.
  4. Where and in what forms pesticides may be encountered during work activities, and potential sources of pesticide exposure on the agricultural establishment. This includes exposure to pesticide residues that may be on or in plants, soil, tractors, application and chemigation equipment, or used PPE, and that pesticides may drift through the air from nearby applications or be in irrigation water.
  5. Potential hazards from toxicity and exposure that pesticides present to workers and their families, including acute and chronic effects, delayed effects, and sensitization.
  6. Routes through which pesticides can enter the body.
  7. Signs and symptoms of common types of pesticide poisoning.
  8. Emergency first aid for pesticide injuries or poisonings.
  9. Routine and emergency decontamination procedures, including emergency eye flushing techniques, and if pesticides are spilled or sprayed on the body to use decontamination supplies to wash immediately or rinse off in the nearest clean water, including springs, streams, lakes or other sources if more readily available than decontamination supplies, and as soon as possible, wash or shower with soap and water, shampoo hair, and change into clean clothes.
  10. How and when to obtain emergency medical care.
  11. When working in pesticide treated areas, wear work clothing that protects the body from pesticide residues and wash hands before eating, drinking, using chewing gum or tobacco, or using the toilet.
  12. Wash or shower with soap and water, shampoo hair, and change into clean clothes as soon as possible after working in pesticide treated areas. Potential hazards from pesticide residues on clothing.
  13. Wash work clothes before wearing them again and wash them separately from other clothes.
  14. Do not take pesticides or pesticide containers used at work to your home.
  15. Safety data sheets provide hazard, emergency medical treatment and other information about the pesticides used on the establishment they may come in contact with.
  16. The responsibility of agricultural employers to do all of the following:
      • Display safety data sheets for all pesticides used on the establishment.
      • Provide workers and handlers information about the location of the safety data sheets on the establishment.
      • Provide workers and handlers unimpeded access to safety data sheets during normal work hours.
  17. The rule prohibits agricultural employers from allowing or directing any worker to mix, load or apply pesticides or assist in the application of pesticides unless the worker has been trained as a handler.
  18. The responsibility of agricultural employers to provide specific information to workers before directing them to perform early-entry activities. Workers must be 18 years old to perform early-entry activities.
  19. Potential hazards to children and pregnant women from pesticide exposure.
  20. Keep children and nonworking family members away from pesticide treated areas.
  21. After working in pesticide treated areas, remove work boots or shoes before entering your home, and remove work clothes and wash or shower before physical contact with children or family members.
  22. How to report suspected pesticide use violations to the State or Tribal agency responsible for pesticide enforcement.
  23. The rule prohibits agricultural employers from intimidating, threatening, coercing, or discriminating against any worker or handler for complying with or attempting to comply with the requirements of this rule, or because the worker or handler provided, caused to be provided or is about to provide information to the employer or the EPA or its agents regarding conduct that the employee reasonably believes violates this part, and/or made a complaint, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing concerning compliance with this rule.
• Early-entry workers must be currently trained as a WPS worker before entering a treated area during an REI. For an agricultural employer to direct a worker to perform activities in a treated area where a REI is in effect, they must:
  1. Ensure that any early-entry worker is at least 18 years old.
  2. Give instructions to early-entry workers. Prior to early entry, give each early-entry worker all of the following information orally and in a manner that the worker can understand:
     • Location of early-entry area where work activities are to be performed.
     • Pesticide(s) applied.
     • Dates and times that the REI begins and ends.
     • Which exception is the basis for the early entry, and a description of tasks that may be performed under that exception.
     • Whether contact with treated surfaces is permitted under the exception.
     • Amount of time the worker is allowed to remain in the treated area.
     • PPE required by the pesticide product labeling for early entry.
     • Location of the pesticide safety information (safety poster).
     • Location of the decontamination supplies required for early-entry workers.
  3. Read the pesticide label. Ensure that each early-entry worker either has read the applicable pesticide product labeling or has been informed, in a manner that the worker can understand, of all labeling requirements and statements related to human hazards or precautions, first aid and user safety.

Additional requirements for early-entry workers are found in Chapter 3 of the How To Comply Manual.

Handlers must be trained before they do any type of handling work. The following is a review of the key requirements of WPS training for handlers:

• There is no grace period for WPS training!
• Before any handler performs any handler task, the handler employer must ensure that each handler has completed WPS training within the last 12 months, unless the handler is currently:
  • Certified as an applicator of restricted-use pesticides, or
  • Certified or licensed as a crop advisor by a program acknowledged as appropriate in writing by EPA or the State or Tribal agency responsible for pesticide enforcement.
• Train handlers every 12 months. Only qualified trainers (described in Chapter 2) may provide training and must be present during the entire training program to respond to questions.
• Provide training in a language or manner the handlers can understand, such as using a translator.
• Present training using EPA-approved materials either orally from written materials or audio-visually.
• Keep training records for 2 years.
• Provide training records to handler employees upon request

In addition to providing the WPS handler training and protections covered in Chapter 2 of the How to Comply Manual, the handler employer must also provide handlers with the information below, in a manner they can understand, before they perform any handler activity.

• Labeling information – The handler must either read, or be informed of, all sections of the pesticide product labeling applicable to the safe use of the pesticide, including label use directions and restrictions. The handler must be given this information in a manner they can understand. The labeling must be available to the handler at all times during handler activities.
• Application-specific information – Handlers must be made aware of any entry restrictions, AEZs and REIs that may apply to the activities being performed by the handler.
• Pesticide application equipment – A handler employer must ensure that:
  • Handlers are instructed in the safe operation of equipment used to mix, load, transfer, or apply pesticides before they use the equipment.
  • Each day before using any equipment to mix, load, transfer or apply pesticides, the equipment is inspected for leaks, clogged nozzles, worn or damaged parts and equipment is repaired or replaced before it is used.

If the pesticide label requires the handler to wear a respirator, WPS requires:

• an initial medical evaluation of the handler,
• annual fit testing, and
• annual training on use/maintenance of the respirator.

Download WPS Respirator Guide PDF

Purchase WPS Respirator Guide Physical Copy