EPA toughens Agricultural Worker Protection Standard
Pesticide exposure is focus of changes
The EPA is revising the 1992 Agricultural Worker Protection Standard to strengthen protections for the nation’s two million agricultural employees who work on farms, forests, nurseries and greenhouses. The agency says the revisions will afford farmworkers similar health protections that are already afforded to workers in other industries.
Key updates require farmworkers to receive annual safety training and prohibit children under the age of 18 from handling pesticides.