WAC 16-233-225   Pesticide safety training -- Standards for pesticide handlers -- 40 CFR, § 170.230.  (1) Requirement. Before any handler performs any handling task, the handler employer shall assure that the handler has been trained in accordance with this section during the last five years, counting from the end of the month in which the training was completed.

     (2) Exceptions. The following persons need not be trained under this section:

     (a) A handler who is currently certified as an applicator of restricted-use pesticides under chapter 17.21 RCW.

     (b) A handler who is certified or licensed as a crop advisor by the Washington state department of agriculture under RCW 15.58.230: Provided, That a requirement for such certification or licensing is pesticide safety training that includes all the information set out in WAC 16-233-225 (3)(d).

     (3) Training programs.

     (a) General pesticide safety information shall be presented to handlers either orally from written materials or audiovisually. The information must be presented in a manner that the handlers can understand (such as through a translator). The presenter also shall respond to handlers' questions.

     (b) The person who conducts the training shall meet at least one of the following criteria:

     (i) Be currently certified as an applicator of restricted-use pesticides under chapter 17.21 RCW; or

     (ii) Be currently designated as a trainer of certified applicators or pesticide handlers by the Washington state department of agriculture under chapters 15.58 or 17.21 RCW; or

     (iii) Have completed a pesticide safety train-the-trainer program approved by a state, federal, or tribal agency having jurisdiction.

     (c) Any person who issues a Washington state department of agriculture-approved worker protection standard handler training card must assure that the handler who receives the training card has been trained in accordance with (d) of this subsection.

     (d) The pesticide safety training materials must convey, at a minimum, the following information:

     (i) Format and meaning of information contained on pesticide labels and in labeling, including safety information such as precautionary statements about human health hazards.

     (ii) Hazards of pesticides resulting from toxicity and exposure, including acute and chronic effects, delayed effects, and sensitization.

     (iii) Routes by which pesticides can enter the body.

     (iv) Signs and symptoms of common types of pesticide poisoning.

     (v) Emergency first aid for pesticide injuries or poisonings.

     (vi) How to obtain emergency medical care.

     (vii) Routine and emergency decontamination procedures.

     (viii) Need for and appropriate use of personal protective equipment.

     (ix) Prevention, recognition, and first-aid treatment of heat-related illness.

     (x) Safety requirements for handling, transporting, storing, and disposing of pesticides, including general procedures for spill cleanup.

     (xi) Environmental concerns such as drift, runoff, and wildlife hazards.

     (xii) Warnings about taking pesticides or pesticide containers home.

     (xiii) Requirements of this chapter that must be followed by handler employers for the protection of handlers and other persons, including the prohibition against applying pesticides in a manner that will cause contact with workers or other persons, the requirement to use personal protective equipment, the provisions for training and decontamination, and the protection against retaliatory acts.

     (4) Verification of training.

     (a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, if the handler employer assures that a handler possesses a Washington state department of agriculture-approved worker protection standard handler training card, then the requirements of subsection (1) of this section will have been met.

     (b) If the handler employer is aware or has reason to know that a Washington state department of agriculture-approved worker protection standard handler training card has not been issued in accordance with this section, or has not been issued to the handler bearing the card, or the handler training was completed more than five years before the beginning of the current month, a handler's possession of that card does not meet the requirements of subsection (1) of this section.

Note:

In addition to the training required by this section, the department of labor and industries requires all agricultural employers, without exception, to train all employees in accordance with WAC 296-307-550, employer chemical hazard communication.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 15.58 and 17.21 RCW. 09-15-139, § 16-233-225, filed 7/21/09, effective 8/21/09; 96-21-008 (Order 6002), § 16-233-225, filed 10/3/96, effective 11/3/96.]