Oregon OSHA enforcing new pesticide rules

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division said Thursday it has begun enforcing most of a set of updated pesticide rules to protect workers across industries, including farming and forestry.

The rules — adopted in early 2017 and effective on Jan. 1, 2018 — are a result of revisions to the Environmental Protection Agency Worker Protection Standard. The updated rules affect areas such as worker notifications, frequency of training and trainer qualifications. Changes made by the EPA that were already in effect in Oregon include respiratory protection, hazard communication, and emergency eye-washing requirements.

Some of the adopted rules also refer to the EPA-designated Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ), which surrounds and moves with pesticide-spray equipment during applications. The zone must be free of all people other than appropriately trained and equipped pesticide handlers.

The AEZ-related rules that are now enforceable include protective measures that must be taken during indoor applications of pesticides. However, other details of the AEZ have not been decided, including restrictions during outdoor applications of pesticides.

Oregon OSHA continues to take public testimony until Jan. 31 on its proposed additional safeguards against pesticide drift.

Learn more about the Worker Protection Standard rules that took effect Jan. 1: http://osha.oregon.gov/OSHARules/proposed/2016/ltr-div4-wps.pdf

Learn more about the related rule proposal and how to comment on it: http://osha.oregon.gov/OSHARules/proposed/2017/ltr-wps-pt2.pdf