WAC 296-307-12040
Pesticide safety training -- Standards
for workers -- 40 CFR, § 170.130. (1) General requirement.
(a) Agricultural employer assurance. The agricultural
employer shall assure that each worker, required by this
section to be trained, has been trained according to this
section during the last five years, counting from the end of
the month in which the training was completed.
Note:
In addition to the training required by this section, the agricultural employer shall assure without exception, that all employees
are trained in accordance with WAC 296-307-550, Employer chemical hazard communication.
(b) Requirement for workers performing early entry
activities. Before a worker enters a treated area on the
agricultural establishment during a restricted-entry interval
to perform early entry activities permitted by WAC 296-307-12020 and contacts anything that has been treated with
the pesticide to which the restricted-entry interval applies,
including but not limited to, soil, water, or surfaces of
plants, the agricultural employer shall assure that the worker
has been trained.
(c) Requirements for other agricultural workers.
(i) Information before entry. Except as provided in (b)
of this subsection, before a worker enters any areas on the
agricultural establishment where, within the last thirty days
a pesticide to which this part applies has been applied or the
restricted-entry interval for such pesticide has been in
effect, the agricultural employer shall assure that the worker
has been provided the pesticide safety information specified
in subsection (3) of this section, in a manner that
agricultural workers can understand, such as by providing
written materials or oral communication or by other means. The agricultural employer must be able to verify compliance
with this requirement.
(ii) Training before the start of a work period. The
agricultural employer shall assure that a worker has been
trained before the worker enters any areas on the agricultural
establishment where, within the last thirty days a pesticide
to which this chapter applies has been applied or a
restricted-entry interval for such pesticide has been in
effect, the agricultural employer shall assure that the worker
has been trained.
(2) Exceptions. The following persons need not be
trained under this section:
(a) A worker who is currently certified as an applicator
of restricted-use pesticides under chapter 17.21 RCW.
(b) A worker who satisfies the training requirements of
chapter 17.21 RCW.
(c) A worker who satisfies the handler training
requirements of WAC 296-307-13025(3).
(d) A worker 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 296-307-13025
(3)(d).
(3) Training programs.
(a) General pesticide safety information shall be
presented to workers either orally from written materials or
audiovisually. The information must be presented in a manner
that the workers can understand (such as through a translator)
using nontechnical terms. The presenter also shall respond to
workers' 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 in accordance with chapters 15.58 and 17.21 RCW; or
(iii) Have completed a pesticide safety train-the-trainer
program approved by the Washington state department of
agriculture in accordance with chapters 15.58 and 17.21 RCW;
or
(iv) Satisfy the training requirements in WAC 296-307-13025(3).
(c) Any person who issues a Washington state department
of agriculture-approved Worker Protection Standard worker
training card must assure that the worker who receives the
training card has been trained in accordance with subsection
(4)(d) of this section.
(d) The training materials shall convey, at a minimum,
the following information:
(i) Where and in what form pesticides may be encountered
during work activities.
(ii) Hazards of pesticides resulting from toxicity and
exposure, including acute and chronic effects, delayed
effects, and sensitization.
(iii) Routes through which pesticides can enter the body,
including information on wearing work clothing that protects
the body from pesticide residues.
(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,
including preventing pesticides from entering the body by:
▪ Emergency eyeflushing techniques;
▪ Washing work clothes separately from other clothes
before wearing them again;
▪ Washing before eating, drinking, using chewing gum or
tobacco, or using the toilet;
▪ Washing/showering with soap and water, shampooing hair,
and putting on clean clothes after work; and
▪ Washing immediately in the nearest clean water if
pesticides are spilled on the body. As soon as possible
shower, shampoo, and change into clean clothes.
(viii) Hazards from chemigation and drift.
(ix) Hazards from pesticide residues on clothing.
(x) Warnings about taking pesticides or pesticide
containers home.
(xi) Requirements of this part designed to reduce the
risks of illness or injury resulting from workers'
occupational exposure to pesticides, including application and
entry restrictions, the design of the warning sign, posting of
warning signs, oral warnings, the availability of specific
information about applications, and the protection against
retaliatory acts.
(4) Verification of training.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (4)(b) of this
section, if the agricultural employer assures that a worker
possesses a Washington state department of
agriculture-approved Worker Protection Standard worker
training card, then the requirements of subsection (1) of this
section will have been met.
(b) If the agricultural employer is aware or has reason
to know that a Washington state department of
agriculture-approved Worker Protection Standard worker
training card has not been issued in accordance with this
section, or has not been issued to the worker bearing the
card, or the training was completed more than five years
before the beginning of the current month, a worker's
possession of that certificate does not meet the requirements
of subsection (1) of this section.