The Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is designed to protect people working at farms, greenhouses, nurseries, or forests who are involved in the production of plants grown for food, feed, seed, fiber, or ornamental purposes.  The New Mexico Department of Agriculture enforces this federal regulation in New Mexico.

If you are responsible for a farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse and use herbicides, insecticides, or other pesticides, you must provide specific training, information and equipment to persons working for you.  You must ensure your employees receive:

• Basic safety training about working around pesticides and pesticide-treated areas
• Access to records of applications made on the premises, including copies of the pesticide labels
• Notification of any pesticide applications before they occur in areas where employees may be
• Proper posting to keep employees out of treated areas until they are safe to enter
• Appropriate protective gear (such as gloves, eye protection, footwear, etc.)
• Assistance and transportation to medical care in the event of an emergency

People who perform “hand labor” tasks such as cultivation, thinning, pruning, weeding, irrigation, or harvesting are Workers.  People who perform any tasks associated with a pesticide application, or who may come into direct contact with pesticides when performing such tasks as cleaning application equipment, mixing or loading pesticides, flagging treated areas, or watering in or otherwise incorporating a pesticide, etc. are Handlers.

For more information call NMDA at 505-646-2133 or 1-800-432-5310.  Also check out these links:

EPA Worker Safety and Training

EPA: How to Comply with the Worker Protection Standardl

Employers’ Checklists: Worker Employers, Handler Employers, Greenhouse/Nursery Employers

WPS Training Videos Online from North Dakota

EPA Publications on the Worker Protection Standard

Gempler’s (commercial supplier of WPS materials)