Worker Protection Standard (WPS)

In 1992, the federal Worker Protection Standard (WPS) was adopted into the Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR §170.  An important part of the WPS regulation requires agricultural employers to provide agricultural employees with information and training on how to avoid exposure to pesticides and pesticide residues.  The WPS was revised in 2015 to increase the level of protection from pesticide exposure to agricultural employees. 

As part of the Pesticide Control Office’s Cooperative Agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, we are happy to continue offering both WPS Worker and WPS Handler certification trainings to support your own training programs.  These offerings have recently been revised to incorporate various learning formats.

The training includes 23 key points for the agricultural worker and handler, with an additional 13 points for the agricultural handler that cover pesticide handling related activities.  Some of the topics covered in the training include:

• Pesticides encountered during work activities;
• Hazards of pesticides;
• Routes that pesticides can enter the body;
• Pesticide poisoning;
• First aid;
• Emergency medical care;
• Decontamination procedures;
• Heat related illness;
• Pesticide residues on clothing;
• Taking pesticide containers home;
• WPS requirements;
• Hauling, transporting, storing, and disposing of pesticides, and
• Environmental concerns.

The Worker portion of this training is designed to be completed within 1-hour, whereas Handlers require an additional 1-hour block of instruction.  Our office is pleased to provide training in both the English and Spanish languages.

To request WPS training from the Pesticide Control Office, please contact us at 520-562-2234.