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September 7, 2018 CapitalPress.com 9 High risk New pesticide application rules exceed EPA requirements safety factors on farms Oregon OSHA OSHA The following factors may increase risk of injury or illness for farm workers: • Age: Injury rates are highest among children age 15 and under and adults over 65. • Equipment and machin- ery: Most farm accidents and fatalities involve machinery. Proper machine guarding and doing equipment mainte- nance according to manufac- turers’ recommendations can help prevent accidents. • Protective equipment: Using protective equipment, such as seat belts on trac- tors, and personal protective equipment (such as safety gloves, coveralls, boots, hats, aprons, goggles, face shields) could significantly reduce farming injuries. • Medical care: Hospitals and emergency medical care are typically not readily acces- sible in rural areas near farms. SALEM, Ore. — Oregon OSHA has adopted rules that increase protections against the risk of pesticides drifting off their mark when spraying occurs outdoors. The rules, which exceed federal require- ments, will take effect Jan. 1, 2019. The rules expand a protec- tive zone; extend the evacu- ation period; require doors, windows, and air intakes to be closed during pesticide ap- plications; and require storage for shoes and boots to prevent tracking of pesticides into worker housing. Pesticide drift outside a treated area is already illegal. However, Oregon OSHA’s rules further address the risk by adding safeguards for workers and their fami- lies who rely on farm hous- ing. The rules are part of a broader and ongoing effort to reduce incidents of unsafe pesticide exposure among agricultural workers and pesticide handlers. “Putting these rules into action means workers and their families are better pro- tected in Oregon than they are in the vast majority of SAFETY & OSHA COMPLIANCE Eric Lloyd 503-881-4951 ELloyd1984@gmail.com Thinkstockphotos.com Pesticide drift outside a treated area is already illegal. However, Oregon OSHA’s rules further address the risk by adding safe- guards for workers and their families who rely on farm housing. the country,” said Michael Wood, administrator for Or- egon OSHA. “These rules are the result of a lot of hard work by stakeholders and plenty of thoughtful public comments about the right approach to a challenging issue.” At issue is the U.S. Envi- ronmental Protection Agen- cy’s Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ). The zone is adjacent to — but outside of — the pesticide-treated area. It provides an added level of protection beyond the safe- guards enforced with respect to the treated area itself. The AEZ surrounds and moves with spray equipment and must be free of all people other than appropriately trained and equipped pesti- cide handlers. The EPA’s rule requires people to move 100 feet away from an area being treated with pesticides. However, it was designed for workers in the field. It did not account for the in- teraction of the AEZ with worker housing and other agricultural structures. The EPA rule also allows people to return to the zone imme- diately after the spray equip- ment has passed by. By contrast, Oregon OSHA’s rules require a 100- foot AEZ when the pesticide applicator is not required to use a respirator. Moreover, people must stay out of the zone for an additional 15 minutes, either by staying indoors or remaining evac- uated. This recognizes that illegal drift may occur and allows any drift to settle. Oregon OSHA’s rules ex- ceed those of the EPA in oth- er ways, including: • For pesticides that re- quire applicators to use res- pirators, the AEZ expands to 150 feet — 50 feet more than the EPA rule. People must stay out of the zone for an additional 15 minutes. There is no option to stay indoors. • For all pesticide appli- cations, doors and windows must be shut, and air intakes must be turned off before people evacuate or remain inside an enclosed agricul- tural structure. During evac- uation, the EPA rule does not include such requirements. • Closeable storage areas for shoes or boots must be provided to prevent track- ing of pesticides into worker housing. The EPA rule in- cludes no such requirements. • Employers must adhere to notification and instruc- tion requirements, including informing people of the start and stop times of pesticide spray, and providing them with instructions to close windows, doors, and air in- takes. The EPA rule includes no such provisions. Oregon OSHA’s newly adopted rules complement — and complete — revi- sions the agency made last year to the EPA Worker Pro- tection Standard. Last year’s changes affected areas such as worker notifications, fre- quency of training, and train- er qualifications. Changes made by the EPA that were already in effect in Oregon include respiratory protec- tion, hazard communication, and emergency eye-washing requirements. Oregon OSHA’s updates to the Worker Protection Standard grew out of a trans- parent decision-making pro- cess. That process included public hearings, an examina- tion of all written and verbal comments, an advisory com- mittee, and a financial im- pact analysis conducted by a committee of both grower and worker representatives. WE CAN OREGON WORKERS’ COMP HELP Kirk Lloyd 503-559-2239 Kirk@LloydsNW.com SAFETY-1/106 Safety-1/104 SAFETY-1/101
