Technician Training
Who is a technician? A technician is a person whose job involves the use of pesticides, but who is not a certified operator or qualified supervisor.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture is very specific about the hours of training required for certain classes of pesticide application technicians. The CDA defines 3 classes of technician, with further subdivisions.
Follow the decision tree below to determine what type of technician training you need to provide; click on your choice for more information. Read the Definitions section before reviewing the tables below.
Definitions
For the following tables, refer to the definitions below.
- Structural I: Includes the categories of Wood Destroying Organism Pest Control, Fumigation, and Residential/Commercial Pest Control
- Structural II: Includes the categories of Outdoor Vertebrate Control, Stored Commodities Treatment, Wood Preservation and Treatment, and Interior Plant Pest Control
- Classroom: Instructional training covering State, Federal, and local laws and regulations
- Environmental precautions
- Pesticide use
- Equipment and calibration
- Pesticides and their families
- Pest management
- Applicator safety
- Pesticide labels and labeling
- Host and pest identification
- Public safety
- Classroom Pest ID: Instructional training covering pest management and host and pest identificaion
- On-the-Job: Training provided while the technician is performing their duties. Some of this training (the number in parentheses) must be provided by a licensed QS or CO who has at least 1 season of pesticide application experience within the last 2 years.
- Discretionary: These hours may be divided between classroom instructional training and on-the-job training as needed.