Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/668668
24 MAY 1, 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com T he federal government announced revisions to the federal Agricultural Farmworker Protection Standard last fall, marking the first major updates to the program since it was implemented more than 20 years ago. The decision has many states reviewing their own programs to ensure they meet the proposed regulations, which include mandatory annual training for farm work- ers and pesticide handlers — rather than training once every five years — and additional content areas that must be covered in those train- ing sessions, among other things. The protection standard is a program managed by the Environmental Protection Agency. In Washington, many of the requirements in EPA's proposal, though not all, are already being met, thanks in large part to a progressive farm worker education program that has provided training to more than 20,000 people since its inception in 2000 and has served as a model to other states. Washington created its farmworker education program — a partnership of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries, Washington State University and industry sponsors, including the Washington State Tree Fruit Association — after field research showed that both agricultural employers and employees lacked awareness of personal protective equipment requirements. The goal: train farm workers, supervisors and opera- tors, including the highly vulnerable group of Spanish- speaking workers, to work safely around pesticides and pesticide residues. "We know our program is pretty unique," said Ofelio Borges, supervisor of the Washington State Department of Agriculture's farm worker education program. "We have worked with other states that want to mimic what we're doing." Today, the program offers several hands-on work- shops for farm workers and supervisors that cover pesti- cide safety, respirator protection and fit-test procedures, as well as a "train the trainer" class. A pre-license pesti- cide applicator training is delivered to employees of all types of agricultural industries, including tree fruit and wine and table grapes. Washington also was one of the first states to provide both the study manual and exam in Spanish. The newest course, tested in a pilot program last year and now added as part of the program in 2016, provides information needed for workers to perform air blast spraying and boom sprayer calibration. The course stemmed from an increase in the number of incidents of Centerpiece Farm worker teaching team leads the nation in preparing workers for safe use of pesticides. by Shannon Dininny photos by TJ Mullinax A SPRAY-plus Ofelio Borges of the Washington State Department of Agriculture talks during a spray application training in Naches, is one of several training workshops and hands-on sessions presented in cooperation of state agencies, Washington groups. Flor Servin, at right in red jacket, of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, is also a member