Revisions to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Worker Protection Standard are meant to “protect the nation’s two million farm workers and their families from pesticide exposure,” the agency said in a news release.
According to Agri-Pulse, the changes proposed in EPA’s revision would increase worker training regarding the safe usage of pesticides and increase training and signage to inform farm workers about the protections they are afforded under the law. In addition, the revision would require employers to maintain pesticide application-specific information, labeling and safety data and make that information available to all workers.
Protection standards for agricultural workers have not been significantly updated since 1992.