Training of Workers and Handlers
To ensure that employees are informed about exposure to pesticides, employers must provide certain information to their farmworkers. This includes providing annual pesticide safety training to both pesticide handlers and agricultural workers. Grace period for worker training is eliminated. Workers must be trained before they work in an area where a pesticide has been used or a restricted-entry interval has been in effect in the past 30 days.
Trainers must be either:
1) certified applicators;
2) designated as a qualified trainer by EPA or their state pesticide regulatory agency; or
3) have completed an EPA-approved “Train the Trainer” course.
Approved trainers must use EPA-approved training materials. Go to Rutgers webpage EPA-Approved Training Resources for “Quick- Connect” EPA-approved WPS Training Resources of videos for both worker and handler WPS Pesticide Safety Training in English and Spanish.
Employers are required by federal regulations to retain records of WPS training for 2 years. The 2020 revised New Jersey regulations on worker and handler training recordkeeping are more stringent, requiring that training rosters be maintained by both the trainer and the agricultural employer for three years. The NJDEP Worker Protection website has downloadable forms for trainer recognition, worker training rosters, and handler training rosters; see https://www.nj.gov/dep/enforcement/pcp/pcp-wps.htm for forms and retention times and responsible parties.
As a public service, Rutgers NJAES PSEP has produced pdf and Word formats of training rosters for WPS recordkeeping. Click and save files to your computer.
Handler Training Rosters
- must be sent to the NJDEP by the trainer or agricultural employer within 30 days after each training session.
- must be maintained on file by both the trainer and agricultural employer for three years.
- Download Rutgers NJAES Handler Training Roster Word document
- Download Rutgers NJAES Handler Training Roster editable pdf document
Worker Training Rosters
- records are no longer required to be sent to the NJDEP, but must be available upon request.
- must be maintained on file by both the trainer and agricultural employer for three years.
- Download Rutgers NJAES Worker Training Roster Word document
- Download Rutgers NJAES Worker Training Roster editable pdf document
All rosters must be maintained in New Jersey on file for 3 years by BOTH the WPS trainer and the agricultural employers.
For Further Information: See the NJDEP Worker Protection website. For specific questions about NJDEP’s implementation of the revised WPS, please contact Supervisor of the Worker Protection Unit Nancy Santiago at 609-984-6568, or contact her by email at pcp@dep.nj.gov.