The Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative (PERC) in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proud to announce the publication of the highly anticipated resource, National Worker Protection Standard: A Manual for Trainers of Agricultural Workers and Pesticide Handlers.
The purpose of this manual is to provide guidance for training agricultural workers and pesticide handlers who work in outdoor and enclosed space production areas, such as farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses in order to meet changes to the federal Worker Protection Standard (WPS) training requirements which begin January 2, 2017. The manual is designed to help trainers conduct effective training sessions for agricultural workers and pesticide handlers.
This manual for trainers includes:
• An introduction to pesticides and pesticide safety and the federal pesticide regulations.
• A discussion of each of the specific points that must be included in WPS training sessions.
• Valuable information to help trainers prepare for and conduct pesticide safety training.
This manual focuses on effective ways to communicate pesticide safety and WPS information. It describes a variety of training techniques that are adaptable to different training programs and includes fifteen sample activities for WPS trainers. The final chapter addresses situations that may arise during training and provides suggestions on how to resolve them.
The document may be accessed and downloaded from the PERC website here.
Changes to the standard in 2015 have made the previous manual obsolete. This updated manual is written in English and PERC plans to release a Spanish version in spring 2017. Plans are underway to have the printed manual available for purchase. Details will follow soon. An announcement is also forthcoming regarding PERC’s upcoming EPA-approved in-person Train-the-Trainer curriculum. Iowa State University’s online Worker Protection Standard Train-the-Trainer course is available now here.
