United States Office of Enforcement EPA 305-F-98-023

Environmental Protection & Compliance Assurance September 1998 Agency Washington, DC 20460 www.epa.gov

Agrichemicals

WPS – Equipment Safety

Ag Center

Helping Agriculture Comply with

Environmental Requirements

F O C U S O N

Equipment Safety

The Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is a regulation issued by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 and amended in 1995. It covers pesticides that are

used in the production of agricultural plants on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses. The

WPS requires you to take steps to reduce the risk of pesticide-related illness and injury if you (1)

use such pesticides, or (2) employ workers or pesticide handlers who are exposed to such

pesticides.

This fact sheet will help you understand how to comply with WPS requirements for protecting

people from pesticide exposure caused by faulty or contaminated equipment.

Equipment inspection

You must make sure that equipment

used for mixing, loading, transferring, or

applying pesticides (pesticide handling

equipment) is inspected and repaired.

You must inspect pesticide handling

equipment before each day of use for

leaks, clogging, and worn or damaged

parts. You must repair or replace any

damaged equipment. 

Protecting persons who

maintain equipment

You must make sure that persons

repairing, cleaning, or adjusting pesticide

handling equipment are protected or

informed. You must remove pesticide

residues from pesticide handling

equipment before anyone other than an

appropriately trained and equipped

handler is allowed to repair, clean, or

adjust it.

EXCEPTION: If it is not feasible to

remove pesticide residues from pesticide

handling equipment, AND the people

who will be repairing, cleaning, or

adjusting the equipment are not your
Agrichemicals

Worker Protection Standard for

Agricultural Pesticides Equipment Safety 

Ag Center Fact Sheet Series Page 2

What if removing

the pesticide

residues is not

feasible?

The Ag Center

welcomes

comments on this

document and its

other services.

Information for Persons Working on Pesticide Equipment

1. The equipment you will be cleaning, adjusting, or repairing may have pesticides on it. Although you may not be able to see or

smell the pesticides, they can rub off on you when you touch the equipment. 

2. If pesticides get on you, they can hurt you. They can:

 cause skin rashes or burns,

 go through your skin and into your body and make you ill,

 burn your eyes,

 make you ill if you get them in your mouth.

3. You should wear work clothing that protects your body from pesticide residues, such as long-sleeved shirts, long pants, shoes, and

socks. If possible, avoid touching the parts of the equipment where the pesticide is most likely to be. Or, if practical for the job

that you will be doing, consider wearing rubber or plastic gloves and an apron.

4. You should not let pesticides stay on your hands:

 Wash your hands as soon as you finish handling the equipment. 

 Wash your hands before eating, drinking, chewing gum, using tobacco, or using the toilet.

 Wash or shower with soap and water, shampoo your hair, and put on clean clothes after work.

 Wash work clothes that may have pesticides on them separately from other clothes before wearing them again.

National Agriculture Compliance

Assistance Center

901 N. 5th Street

Kansas City, KS 66101

Toll-free: 1-888-663-2155

Internet: www.epa.gov/agriculture

Fax: 913-551-7270

United States Environmental

Protection Agency

Washington, DC 20460

employees (and, therefore, are not

handlers for whom you are responsible

under the WPS), you must inform them: 

 that the equipment may be

contaminated with pesticides, 

 of the potentially harmful effects of

exposure to pesticides, and 

 how to correctly handle such

equipment.

The example below is all the information

you need to provide to persons who are

not your employees and are not trained

as pesticide handlers. Although the

WPS does not require you to provide

this information in written form, you

may find that using photocopies of this

sheet is a convenient way to make sure

you convey all the necessary

information.

For more information

You can get more facts about

compliance by calling the Ag Center’s

toll-free number. Materials can be sent

to you by fax or mail, or you can talk to

an Ag Center representative. For a list

of all publications available from the Ag

Center, request document number 

10001, “Ag Center Publications.”