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Worker Protection Standard Compliance Monitoring Program
FIFRA Topics
- Good Laboratory Practices
- FIFRA Grants
- Inspections
- Worker Protection Safety
- Pesticide Producing Establishments
- Pesticide Imports and Exports
The Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is a regulation issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect agricultural workers from the effects of exposure to pesticides. It covers pesticides that are used in the production of agricultural plants on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses. The WPS offers protections to over three and a half million people who work with pesticides at over 560,000 workplaces. The scope of the regulation includes not only workers performing hand labor operations in fields treated with pesticides, but also workers in forests, nurseries, and greenhouses, and the employees who handle (mix, load, apply, etc.) pesticides in these locations.
To ensure that employees will be informed about exposure to pesticides, the WPS requires:
- Pesticide safety training – for workers and handlers;
- Pesticide safety poster – to be displayed for workers and handlers;
- Access to labeling information – for pesticide handlers and early-entry workers; and
- Access to specific information – a centrally located application list of pesticide treatments on the establishment.
To ensure that employees will be protected from exposures to pesticides, the WPS requires employers to:
- prohibit handlers from applying a pesticide in a way that will expose workers or other persons;
- exclude workers from areas being treated with pesticides,
exclude workers from areas that remain under a restricted-entry interval (REI), with narrow exceptions; - protect early-entry workers who are doing permitted tasks in treated areas during an REI, including special instructions and duties related to correct use of PPE;
- notify workers about treated areas; and
- protect handlers during handling tasks.
To mitigate pesticide exposures that employees receive, the WPS requires:
- Decontamination sites – providing handlers and workers ample supply of water, soap, and towels for routine washing and
- Emergency assistance – making transportation available to a medical care facility if an agricultural worker or handler is poisoned or injured by a pesticide, and providing information about the pesticide to which the person may have been exposed.
The Worker Protection Standard and Recent Amendments
Basic Principals of the Worker Protection Standard
Who and What is Covered?
WPS Inspections
WPS Inspection and Enforcement Accomplishment Report
Worker Protection Publications
Recursos en Español: Norma de Protectión para el Trabajador