The Environmental Protection Agency Worker Protection Standard (WPS) was revised in 2015 and became effective on January 2, 2016. However, a number of new changes will be effective January 2, 2017.
All workers will have to be trained annually beginning in 2017 and all persons holding a Train the Trainer certificate will have to be retrained. The University of Florida/IFAS will be hosting approved WPS Train-the-Trainer courses in the near future.
WPS is aimed to reduce the risk of pesticide poisoning and injury among agricultural workers and pesticide handlers. It requires that owners and employers on agricultural establishments provide protections to workers and handlers from potential pesticide exposure, train them about pesticide safety and provide mitigations in case exposure occurs.
Here are some helpful resources:
- Quick Reference Guide to The Worker Protection Standard (WPS) Revised in 2015
- Summarization table of key provisions in the EPAs current WPS regulation and the 2015 revisions. comparison of new and existing protections (does not cover all rule details or all information needed to comply with the regulation).
- EPA Pesticide Safety website