N.J. Admin. Code § 7:30-12.16

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 7:30-12.16 - Pesticide safety training for handlers

(a) Before any handler performs any handling task, the handler employer shall ensure that the handler has been trained in accordance with this subsection within the last 12 months.

1. No handler employer shall require any person under 18 years of age to perform any handling task.

2. Before any handler performs any handler activity on an agricultural establishment where within the last 30 days a pesticide product has been used, or a restricted-entry interval for such pesticide has been in effect, the handler employer shall ensure that each handler has received, in a manner the handler can understand, an employee orientation covering all of the following establishment-specific information:

i. The location of pesticide safety information required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:30-12.19;

ii. The location of pesticide application and hazard information required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:30-12.14; and

iii. The location of decontamination supplies required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:30-12.21.

(b) The following persons need not be trained under this section:

1. A handler who is currently certified as an applicator of pesticides under N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.1 or 8.1;

2. A handler who satisfies the training requirements of 40 CFR Part 171;

3. A handler who is certified or licensed as a crop advisor by a program acknowledged as appropriate in writing by the Department, Pesticide Control Program, the EPA, or by another State or Tribal lead agency for pesticide enforcement, provided that a requirement for such certification or licensing is pesticide safety training that includes all information set out in (c)3 below.

(c) General pesticide safety information shall be presented to handlers either orally from written materials or audiovisually at a location that is reasonably free from distraction and conducive to training. All training materials shall be EPA-approved. The information shall be presented in a manner that the handlers can understand, such as through a translator. The presenter shall also respond to the handlers' questions.

1. The person who conducts the training shall meet at least one of the following criteria:

i. Be currently certified as a pesticide applicator pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.1 or 8.1;

ii. Be currently recognized as a trainer of certified pesticide applicators or pesticide handlers by a state, Federal, or Tribal agency having jurisdiction; or

iii. Have completed an EPA-approved pesticide safety Train-the-trainer program for trainers of handlers.

2. Any person who completes a roster required pursuant to (n) below indicating a handler has completed required training shall ensure the handler has been trained in accordance with (c)3 below.

3. The training materials shall convey, at a minimum, the following information:

i. The responsibility of the agricultural employer to provide each worker and handler with information and protections designed to reduce work-related pesticide exposures and illnesses. This responsibility includes ensuring that the workers and handlers have been trained on pesticide safety; providing pesticide safety and application and hazard information, decontamination supplies, and emergency medical assistance; and notifying workers of restrictions during pesticide application and when entering pesticide treated areas. A worker or handler may designate, in writing, a representative to request access to pesticide application and hazard information.

ii. How to recognize and understand the meaning of the posted warning signs used for notifying workers of restrictions on entering pesticide treated areas on the establishment.

iii. How to follow directions and/or signs about keeping out of pesticide treated areas subject to a restricted-entry interval and application exclusion zones.

iv. Where, and in what forms, pesticides may be encountered during work activities and potential sources of pesticide exposure on the agricultural establishment. This includes exposure to pesticide residues that may be on or in plants, soil, tractors, application, and chemigation equipment, or used personal protective equipment, and the fact that pesticides may drift through the air from nearby applications or be in irrigation water.

v. Potential hazards from toxicity and exposure that pesticides present to workers and their families, including acute and chronic effects, delayed effects, and sensitization.

vi. Routes through which pesticides can enter the body.

vii. Signs and symptoms of common types of pesticide poisoning.

viii. Emergency first aid for pesticide injuries or poisonings.

ix. Routine and emergency decontamination procedures, including emergency eye flushing techniques, and if pesticides are spilled or sprayed on the body to use decontamination supplies to wash immediately or rinse off in the nearest clean water, including springs, streams, lakes, or other sources if more readily available than decontamination supplies, and as soon as possible, wash or shower with soap and water, shampoo hair, and change into clean clothes.

x. How and when to obtain emergency medical care.

xi. When a person is, or has been, working in pesticide treated areas, the need for that person to wear work clothing that protects the body from pesticide residues and to wash hands before eating, drinking, using chewing gum or tobacco, or using the toilet.

xii. The need to wash or shower with soap and water, shampoo hair, and change into clean clothes as soon as possible after working in pesticide treated areas.

xiii. Potential hazards from pesticide residues on clothing.

xiv. The need to wash work clothes before wearing them again and wash them separately from other clothes.

xv. The instruction not to take pesticides or pesticide containers used at work to your home.

xvi. Safety data sheets that provide hazard, emergency medical treatment, and other information about the pesticides used on the establishment that the worker may come in contact with. The responsibility of agricultural employers to do all of the following:

(1) Display safety data sheets for all pesticides used on the establishment;

(2) Provide workers and handlers information about the location of the safety data sheets on the establishment; and

(3) Provide workers and handlers unimpeded access to safety data sheets during normal work hours.

xvii. The prohibition on an agricultural employer allowing or directing any worker to mix, load, or apply pesticides or assist in the application of pesticides, unless the worker has been trained as a handler.

xviii. The responsibility of agricultural employers to provide specific information to workers before directing them to perform early-entry activities. Workers shall be a minimum of 18 years old to perform early-entry activities.

xix. Potential hazards to children and pregnant women from pesticide exposure.

xx. The need to keep children and nonworking family members away from pesticide treated areas.

xxi. After a person has worked in pesticide treated areas, the need for that person to remove work boots or shoes before entering his or her home and to remove his or her work clothes and wash or shower before physical contact with children or family members.

xxii. How to report suspected pesticide use violations to the State or Tribal agency responsible for pesticide enforcement.

xxiii. The prohibition of an agricultural employer intimidating, threatening, coercing, or discriminating against any worker or handler for:

(1) Complying with or attempting to comply with this subchapter;

(2) Providing, causing to be provided, or being about to provide information to the employer, the EPA, or any duly-authorized representative of a Federal, state, or Tribal government regarding conduct that the worker or handler reasonably believes violates this subchapter;

(3) Making a complaint, testifying, assisting, or participating in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing concerning compliance with this subchapter; or

(4) Objecting to, or refusing to participate in, any activity, policy, practice, or assigned task that the worker or handler reasonably believed to be in violation of this subchapter;

xxiv. Information on proper application and use of pesticides;

xxv. The requirement that a handler follow the portions of the labeling applicable to the safe use of the pesticide;

xxvi. The format and meaning of information contained on pesticide labels and in labeling applicable to the safe use of the pesticide;

xxvii. The need for and appropriate use and removal of all personal protective equipment;

xxviii. How to recognize, prevent, and provide first aid treatment for heat-related illness;

xxix. Safety requirements for handling, transporting, storing, and disposing of pesticides, including general procedures for spill cleanup;

xxx. Environmental concerns, such as drift, runoff, and wildlife hazards;

xxxi. The requirement that a handler not apply pesticides in a manner that results in contact with workers or other persons;

xxxii. The responsibility of a handler employer to provide each handler with information and protections designed to reduce work-related pesticide exposures and illnesses. This includes providing, cleaning, maintaining, storing, and ensuring proper use of all required PPE; properly disposing of contaminated PPE that cannot or will not be cleaned; providing decontamination supplies; and providing specific information about pesticide use and labeling information;

xxxiii. The requirement that a handler suspend a pesticide application if a worker or other person is in the application exclusion zone;

xxxiv. The requirement that a handler be at least 18 years old;

xxxv. The responsibility of a handler employer to ensure that each handler has received respirator fit-testing, training, and medical evaluation if the pesticide labeling requires the handler to wear a respirator; and

xxxvi. The responsibility of an agricultural employer to post treated areas as required by this subchapter.

(d) If the handler employer ensures that a handler possesses a copy of a roster indicating that the handler has been trained within the previous 12 months, then the requirements of (a) above will have been met.

(e) When resources become available the Department shall prepare educational pamphlets, written at a fifth grade level, in English and in the native languages of the major groups of handlers working in New Jersey. These pamphlets will be provided to agricultural employers, handler employers, owners, agricultural extension and other agricultural organizations. The pamphlet shall include, but not be limited to, the following areas:

1. General pesticide health and safety information, preventive practices in the field and in the farm worker residential area, signs and symptoms of pesticide poisoning, first aid and medical care, and methods of seeking assistance from State and Federal agencies if a pesticide problem occurs;

2. The names and addresses of health providers in the vicinity who are trained in pesticide evaluation and have bi-lingual or multi-lingual staff; and

3. The rights of handlers to obtain the pesticide information and training pursuant to this subchapter, as well as rights under other Federal and State laws.

(f) Every handler employer shall provide the pamphlets prepared pursuant to (e) above (if made available by the Department) to all handlers on the first day of their employment, or at least one day prior to the performance of any handling task. Such pamphlets shall be presented to handlers at least once annually.

(g) No trainer shall conduct training of workers or handlers required by this subchapter without receiving recognition as a trainer by the Department.

1. A person currently licensed in New Jersey as a pesticide applicator is exempt from the need to receive recognition as a trainer by the Department, unless training workers or handlers of an employer other than the trainer's employer.

(h) A New Jersey Handler Trainer recognition will be issued if the following conditions are satisfied:

1. The Department receives proof that the person meets at least one of the criteria in (c)1 above; and

2. The trainer demonstrates to the Department a knowledge of relevant New Jersey pesticide laws and regulations.

(i) The Department, when it determines that grounds exist, may:

1. Deny an application for recognition as a handler trainer;

2. Revoke recognition as a handler trainer; or

3. Suspend recognition as a handler trainer;

(j) Each of the following acts shall constitute a ground for which any of the disciplinary actions described in (i) above may be taken:

1. Failing to receive prior Department approval for a handler training program;

2. Refusing, or after notice, failing to comply with any of the provisions of the Act, or any Order issued by the Department thereto;

3. Training in a manner that may result in harm, injury, or damage to persons, property, or the environment, or a significant risk of such harm, injury, or damage;

4. Making false or fraudulent claims through any form of written or verbal communication, misrepresenting the effects of any pesticide or application methods to be utilized;

5. Recording or submitting false or fraudulent Worker Protection Standard handler training rosters;

6. Failing to keep or falsification of required records;

7. Falsifying, or making misleading statements in the application for handler trainer recognition;

8. Evading or attempting to evade or aiding, abetting, combining with, or conspiring with any person for any purpose which will evade or be in violation of the provisions of the Act or this subchapter; or

9. Providing less information than that required pursuant to this section.

(k) No person who has had their handler trainer recognition revoked or suspended shall train handlers or workers during the time period for which the revocation or suspension is in effect.

(l) Where the Department acts pursuant to (i) above, the Department shall afford a hearing in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq., and the Uniform Administrative Procedures Rules, N.J.A.C. 1:1, to any person who is aggrieved by the order and who has applied to the Department for a hearing within 15 days of issuance of the order.

(m) In the event of the issuance by EPA of a final order assessing a civil penalty under section 14(a) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 135 et seq. or a criminal conviction under section 14(b), the Department may suspend or revoke handler trainer recognition of any person so assessed or convicted.

(n) The handler trainer and agricultural employer shall keep a training roster for each handler trained in New Jersey. Such roster shall contain the following information:

1. The full printed name and signature of the handler;

2. The date of training;

3. The name of the trainer and the pesticide applicator license number or Department-issued trainer identification number for the trainer;

4. The handler's native language;

5. The handler's birth date;

6. The name of the agricultural employer and address of agricultural employment;

7. Information identifying which EPA-approved training materials were used; and

8. The email address of the trainer.

(o) All rosters required to be kept pursuant to (n) above shall be kept for a minimum of three years.

(p) All rosters shall be immediately provided upon request by the Department.

(q) The roster of all handlers trained shall be sent to the Department by the trainer or agricultural employer after each training session within 30 days. This requirement includes employee orientation training.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:30-12.16

Amended by 52 N.J.R. 756(a), effective 4/6/2020