§ 170.230 - Pesticide safety training for handlers.

§ 170.230 Pesticide safety training for handlers.

(a) 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 5 years, counting from the end of the month in which the training was completed.

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

(1) A handler who is currently certified as an applicator of restricted-use pesticides under part 171 of this chapter.

(2) A handler who satisfies the training requirements of part 171 of this chapter.

(3) A handler who is certified or licensed as a crop advisor by a program acknowledged as appropriate in writing by EPA or a State or Tribal lead agency for pesticide enforcement, provided that a requirement for such certification or licensing is pesticide safety training that includes all the information set out in § 170.230(c)(4).

(c) Training programs.

(1) 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.

(2) 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 part 171 of this chapter; or

(ii) Be currently designated as a trainer of certified applicators or pesticide handlers by a State, Federal, or Tribal agency having jurisdiction; or

(iii) Have completed a pesticide safety train-the-trainer program approved by a State, Federal, or Tribal agency having jurisdiction.

(3) Any person who issues an EPA-approved Worker Protection Standard handler training certificate must assure that the handler who receives the training certificate has been trained in accordance with paragraph (c)(4) of this section.

(4) 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 subpart 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.

(d) Verification of training.

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, if the handler employer assures that a handler possesses an EPA-approved Worker Protection Standard handler training certificate, then the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section will have been met.

(2) If the handler employer is aware or has reason to know that an EPA-approved Worker Protection Standard handler training certificate has not been issued in accordance with this section, or has not been issued to the handler bearing the certificate, or the handler training was completed more than 5 years before the beginning of the current month, a handler's possession of that certificate does not meet the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section.

[57 FR 38151, Aug. 21, 1992, as amended at 60 FR 21953, May 3, 1995]