United States Office of Enforcement EPA 305-F-98-025

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

Agrichemicals

WPS – Enclosed Cabs

Ag Center

Helping Agriculture Comply with

Environmental Requirements

F O C U S O N

Equipment With Enclosed

Cabs

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 while they are working in vehicles that have enclosed cabs.

Features of enclosed cabs

Enclosed cabs must have a nonporous

barrier that totally surrounds the

occupants and prevents contact with

pesticides outside of the cab. 

Enclosed cabs that provide respiratory

protection must have a properly

functioning ventilation system that is

used and maintained according to the

manufacturer's written operating

instructions. The cab must be declared

in writing by the manufacturer or by a

governmental agency to provide at least

as much respiratory protection as the

type of respirator listed on the pesticide

labeling.

Some enclosed-cab systems provide

respiratory protection equivalent to a

dust/mist filtering respirator and could,

therefore, be used as a substitute when

that type of respirator is specified on the

product labeling. Other enclosed-cab

systems are equipped to remove organic

vapors as well as dusts and mists and

could be used as a substitute when either

the dust/mist filtering respirator or an

organic-vapor-removing respirator is

specified on the product labeling.
Ag Center Fact Sheet Series Page 2

Agrichemicals/WPS – Equipment With Enclosed Cabs

These exceptions to

PPE are allowed

unless expressly

prohibited by

product labeling.

The Ag Center

welcomes

comments on this

document and its

other services.

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

PPE exceptions

You may allow handlers to omit some of

the personal protective equipment (PPE)

listed on the pesticide labeling for a

handling task if the handlers are using

an enclosed cab.

Even when reduced PPE is permitted to

be worn during a task, handlers must be

provided all PPE required by the

pesticide labeling for that task and have

it immediately available for use in an

emergency.

In an enclosed cab that does not provide

respiratory protection, handlers need not

wear all the PPE listed on the pesticide

labeling, but must wear at least: 

 long-sleeved shirt and long pants, 

 shoes and socks, and

 any respirator required for the

handling task.

In an enclosed cab that provides

respiratory protection equal to the

labeling-required respirator, handlers

need not wear all the PPE listed on the

pesticide labeling, but must wear at least: 

 long-sleeved shirt and long pants,

and 

 shoes and socks. 

In any enclosed cab where reduced PPE

is worn, handlers must: 

 keep immediately available all PPE

listed on the labeling for the type of

task being performed,

 wear the PPE if it is necessary to

leave the cab and contact pesticidetreated surfaces in the treated area, 

 take off PPE that was worn in the

treated area before reentering the

cab, and 

 store all PPE in a chemical-resistant

container, such as a plastic bag, to

prevent contamination of the inside

of the cab.

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.”