The Sonoma County Department of Agriculture/Weights & Measures (AWM) would like to share a few reminders and tips to help you protect your employees and stay in compliance as your crop protection efforts ramp up.
- Employees who handle pesticides must be trained annually and must be trained on all specific pesticides they will be handling. Handlers include those applying, mixing, and loading pesticides, as well as those servicing or repairing equipment which may contain pesticide residue.
- Fieldworkers must be trained annually. A fieldworker is defined as an employee who is entering a field that has been treated with a pesticide within 30 days plus the restricted entry interval to perform agricultural activities.
- Trainings must be performed by a qualified trainer.
- Trainings must be documented. If training record templates for pesticide handlers or fieldworkers are needed, please contact AWM at (707) 565-2371 or sonomaag@sonoma-county.org.
- If an employee is handling pesticides and the label requires protective eyewear, there must be one pint of water or emergency eyewash immediately available on the tractor or if the application is using a backpack sprayer, directly on that applicator. This is a common violation found while performing pesticide application inspections.
