AGRICULTURAL PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

NEWSLETTER

California pesticide worker safety regulations will be amended to specify that certified private applicators (growers) be qualified to provide handler and fieldworker training to their employees. Other persons considered qualified include UC Farm Advisors, county biologists with a license in pesticide use enforcement, qualified applicator licensees and certificate holders, agricultural pest control advisers, journeyman pilots, registered professional foresters, and those who have completed an "Instructor Trainer" program approved by the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)."

Issuing the EPA Worker Protection Standard Training Worker Verification Card ("blue card") is OPTIONAL!!

In June, Chuck Andrews, DPR's Chief, issued a letter to county agricultural commissioners regarding instructor training programs to carry out the federal Worker Protection Standard (WPS) training requirements in California. Up until then, the UC Statewide IPM Project's "Instructor Training Program" course was the only one authorized by DPR to qualify WPS trainers of pesticide handlers and field workers.

Andrews enclosed a copy of DPR's criteria (minimum standards) for evaluating instructor training programs established to qualify pesticide handler and field worker trainers -- to guide persons interested in becoming "trainers of trainers." The letter notes "this policy will allow other persons to conduct Instructor Training programs, thereby expanding the number of qualified trainers available in California."

Potential instructors will need to "demonstrate their knowledge of California pesticide regulations and knowledge of instruction techniques/principles of teaching" in written requests for approval. DPR will consider possession of a qualified applicator license, qualified applicator certificate, or agricultural pest control adviser license, or professional experience in providing instruction to persons handling pesticides or other chemicals as "demonstration of knowledge" of pesticide handling activities and regulatory requirements in handler and fieldworker safety.

All instructor training programs must provide "how-to-train" information, a trainer's manual, and "limit the class size to 25 students to provide for more effective student participation." For a copy of the "Criteria for Instructor Training" contact your county agricultural commissioner's office, or Bob Chavez, DPR, 1020 N St., Rm. 300, Sacramento, CA 95814-5624, or get in touch with me at (209) 456-7560.

Introducing a New Video ....

"This excellent video highlights growers concerns about using pesticides. In their own words, California growers and crop protection professionals talk about their concern for their workers' health, environmental protection, the number of pesticide regulations, and the constant rise in pesticide product prices. They make it clear why so many growers are choosing IPM practices." Steve Sutter, UC Farm Advisor, Fresno. To order this free 23-minute video, send a written request to: California Department of Health Services, Occupational Health Branch, 2151 Berkeley Way, Annex 11, Berkeley, CA 94704.

Agricultural employers must "ensure" that each employee assigned to work in a "treated" field has been trained in prescribed general pesticide safety within the past 5 years, in a manner they understand, before they enter the field. A treated field is one that has been treated with a pesticide or had a restricted entry interval in effect within the last 30 days. A treated field includes roads, paths, ditches, borders, and headlands, if the pesticide was directed to those areas, but "does not include areas inadvertently contaminated by drift or overspray."

The U.S. EPA's Worker Protection Standard (WPS) says employers have the option to hire only those workers who have already received training and who possess a "valid training certificate." I confirmed with U.S. EPA that such hiring discrimination is legal.

California regulations will be amended to conform to the WPS. The DPR has agreed to recognize the US EPA fieldworker training verification "blue" cards as evidence of prior training. The DPR also says "An employer not wishing to become involved in training could hire only fieldworkers who possess a card."

Employers adopting such a policy should put it in writing in English and Spanish. An example policy to field post to communicate to job seekers could read as follows.

"Possession of a valid worker protection standard training certificate is a necessary qualification for all jobs relating to the production of agricultural plants offered by this company. The Company will provide applicants, on request, a list of all known providers of WPS instruction services in this area. In California, valid field worker training certificates include EPA-approved Worker Protection Standard worker training certificates, or 'blue cards,' and any other documents or certificates issued by trainers approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation."

Some employers may wish to post a list of local nonemployer training providers, and "sponsor" workers by paying instruction fees. For a partial list of nonemployer providers of WPS general pesticide safety training classes for fieldworkers, contact me at (209) 456-7560.

In any event, a lawful cottage industry of nonemployer WPS trainers has cropped up, to the surprise of some EPA officials. I'm aware one of my UC field worker train-the-trainer "graduates," employed by a grower-packer, moonlights evenings as a WPS trainer, offering her class in Spanish to interested fieldworkers. Her students view EPA-approved videos, receive EPA's Worker booklet, have their questions answered, and are issued EPA's "blue card," good for all employers for five years. She laminates cards on request to help preserve the details. And although she advises workers of free local (Americorp) training, many agree to pay her a $5 tuition fee, subject to change -- which may be less than the cost of training for an individual employer.

Colleague Becomes Constituent .... Jenny Rodriguez, Program Representative, Department of Human and Community Development, UC Davis, has resigned her Visalia position to accept employment commencing August 21, 1995, with United Agri Products (UAP), a Con Agra-owned, Fresno-based company. Jenny will join Rob Hopkins and others in developing a bilingual environmental and regulatory safety training service for agricultural employers. I look forward to working with her in her new position -- and take this opportunity to thank her for the help she has given thus far to this program, and to the area's agricultural community.

FIRST AID TRAINING OBLIGATION .... Cal/OSHA says "in the absence of an infirmary, clinic, or hospital, in near proximity to the workplace," a person or persons must be trained in first aid equivalent to that of the American Red Cross, with at least 1 employee for every 20 employees at any remote location having such training. The Agency looks for current first aid cards on agricultural inspections.

Cal/OSHA considers cardiopulmonary resuscitation to be part of first aid training. Although the American Red Cross CPR card expires after a year, Carolyn Myers, of the Fresno-Madera Chapter, reports CPR skills retention after a year is only 22 percent. For information on local English/Spanish CPR/first aid training, call Carolyn at (209) 486-0701.

No person may knowingly enter into an agreement for the services of a farm labor contractor who is not state-licensed. California's Labor Code says "No grower shall enter into a contract or agreement with a person who fails to provide a copy of his or her (state) license (or letter of authorization to operate when the Labor Commissioner has failed to timely issue or renew a license), without first making reasonable inquiry, to ensure that the person possesses a valid license."

The Labor Code also says "no person shall act as a farm labor contractor until a license to do so has been issued to him by the Labor Commissioner." State-licensed FLCs must register annually with the agricultural commissioner of the county(s) in which the FLC has contracted with a grower.

Based on a list of 1,173 state-licensed FLCs printed by the Department of Industrial Relations May 24, 1995, 565 businesses had addresses in the southern San Joaquin Valley (Chowchilla to Arvin). Of these, 352 had expired, leaving 213 with current state licenses.

Two hundred eight FLCs had addresses in the Central Coast area (Watsonville to Ventura). Of these, 108 had expired prior to the May 24 printing date.

This year's delays in issuing annual renewals and new licenses has been attributed by DIR personnel to staffing changes, and new requirements to check employment tax status with the Internal Revenue Service. The number of State FLC licensees is up only slightly from 1990, when 1,136 were licensed.

Unlike state licensing, the federal registration has no fee, requires no bond, or examination, or proof of workers' compensation (but does require a pulse). In a nationwide list of 11,704 FLCs from the U.S. Wage Hour Division dated March 31, 1995, 1,906 FLCs had addresses in California's southern San Joaquin Valley; 881 federal registrants had addresses in the Central Coast area.

Both regions displayed roughly similar crew size distributions (see table). Central Coast FLCs are more apt to be federally authorized for driving.

Since the legal definitions of "farm labor contractor" in state and federal regulations are very similar, the vast numerical gap (even wider than in 1990) between federal registrations and state licenses is "puzzling." At a June 26 TIPP "Open Forum" in Visalia, I asked why the vast number gap. A California official said that, unlike federal registration, state licensing doesn't cover "contract reforestation." My guess is there are a lot of small (perhaps part time) FLCs who, for various reasons, lack the state license -- and some growers and packers that employ them thinking they have legal "shielding" against labor-protective and transportation rules.