N.J. Admin. Code § 7:30-12.8

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 7:30-12.8 - Worker pesticide safety training

(a) Before any worker performs any task in a treated area on an agricultural establishment where within the last 30 days a pesticide has been used or a restricted-entry interval for such pesticide has been in effect, the agricultural employer shall ensure that each worker, required by this section to be trained, has been trained according to this section within the previous 12 months.

1. Before any worker performs any activity in a treated area on an agricultural establishment where within the previous 30 days a pesticide product has been used, or a restricted-entry interval for such pesticide has been in effect, the agricultural employer shall ensure that each worker has received an employee orientation to provide establishment-specific information. The agricultural employer may delegate such orientation to the crew leader(s); however, the agricultural employer is responsible to ensure that the orientation is given.

2. Employee orientation training shall be provided in a manner the worker can understand and meet or exceed the following course content requirements:

i. Re-entry, and how workers are informed about re-entry;

ii. The location of handwashing facilities, clean clothes and protective clothing;

iii. The location of decontamination supplies and where to obtain immediate decontamination;

iv. A review of the location of pesticide application, safety, and hazard information required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:30-12.6 and 12.9;

v. The availability of pesticide safety data sheets (SDS);

vi. Hand out the educational pamphlet required pursuant to (e) below, when available.

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

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

2. A worker who satisfies the training requirements of 40 CFR part 171;

3. A worker who satisfies the handler training requirements under N.J.A.C. 7:30-12.16; and

4. A worker who is certified or licensed as a crop advisor by a program acknowledged as appropriate in writing by the Department, the EPA, or 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 of the information set out in N.J.A.C. 7:30-12.16(c)3.

(c) General pesticide safety information shall be presented to workers 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 workers can understand, such as through a translator, using nontechnical terms. The presenter also shall respond to workers' questions.

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

i. Be currently certified as an applicator of restricted use pesticides under 40 CFR Part 171;

ii. Be currently recognized as a trainer of certified 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 workers.

2. Any person who completes a roster required pursuant to (q) below indicating a worker has completed the required training shall ensure that the worker 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 an agricultural employer to provide the worker and handler with information and protections designed to reduce work-related pesticide exposure and illness, which includes:

(1) Ensuring that the worker and handler have been trained on pesticide safety;

(2) Providing pesticide safety and application and hazard information, decontamination supplies, and emergency medical assistance;

(3) Notifying workers of restrictions during applications and on entering pesticide treated areas; and

(4) Providing access to pesticide application and hazard information for the worker or handler through a request by a designated representative, designated by the worker or handler in writing;

ii. How to recognize and understand 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 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. The need, when working in a pesticide treated area, to wear work clothing that protects the body from pesticide residues and 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. Instruction not to take pesticides or pesticide containers used at work to the worker's home;

xvi. Notice that safety data sheets 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. Notice that the rule prohibits agricultural employers from 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 the agricultural employer to provide specific information to workers before directing them to perform early-entry activities, and notice that workers must be 18 years old to perform early-entry activities;

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

xx. Notice to keep children and nonworking family members away from pesticide treated areas;

xxi. The need to, after working in pesticide treated areas, remove work boots or shoes before entering a home, and remove 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; and

xxiii. Notice that the rule prohibits agricultural employers from 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.

(d) If the 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 workers, working in New Jersey. These pamphlets will be available to agricultural 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 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 workers to obtain the pesticide information and training pursuant to this subchapter, as well as rights under other Federal and State laws.

(e) Every agricultural employer shall provide the pamphlets prepared pursuant to (d) above, to all workers. Such pamphlets shall be presented to workers at least once annually as part of the employee orientation training required pursuant to (a) above, unless the workers already have an updated pamphlet in their possession.

(f) 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.

(g) A New Jersey Trainer recognition shall be issued if the following conditions are satisfied:

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

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

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

1. Deny an application for recognition as a trainer;

2. Revoke recognition as a trainer; or

3. Suspend recognition as a trainer.

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

1. Failing to receive prior Department approval for a 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. Issuing false or fraudulent Worker Protection Standard worker verification card;

6. Failing to keep or falsification of required records;

7. Falsifying, or making misleading statements in the application for 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 is required pursuant to this section.

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

(k) Where the Department acts pursuant to (h) above, the Department shall afford a hearing in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq., and 52:14F-1 et seq., and the Uniform Administrative Procedure 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 in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:30-11.4within 15 days of issuance of the order.

(l) 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 worker trainer recognition of any person so assessed or convicted.

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

1. The full printed name of the worker;

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 worker's native language;

5. The email address of the trainer;

6. The worker's birth date;

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

8. The signature of the worker trained; and

9. Information identifying which EPA-approved training materials were used.

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

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

(p) An agricultural employer who provides, directly or indirectly, training required under this section shall provide, to the worker upon request, a copy of the record of the training that contains the information required pursuant to (m) above.

(q) The Department may require the periodic submission by an agricultural employer of annual data on worker training, including, but not limited to:

1. The number of workers trained in a specified year;

2. The native language spoken by the trained workers; and

3. The name of the agricultural employer and address of agricultural employment of the trained workers.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:30-12.8

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