WSDA Adopts New Standards in Line with Federal WPS Regulations

The Washington State Department of Agriculture has officially adopted Worker Protection Standard rules that are more in line with what the Federal Government is instituting for 2018.

Joel Kangiser with WSDA said there aren’t as many changes in Washington as there are in other states.

“In Washington we’re kind of fortunate that the federal requirements in many cases just came up to the state requirements we already had in place.”

Still producers will need to be aware of the fact that they will need to train workers and handlers every year, there are new rules regarding the application exclusion zones, displaying of safety information amongst other changes.

Kangiser said for 2018 however, they are not looking to punish farmers.

“For the first year, 2018, we will be doing mostly just technical assistance and guidance on the new requirements. We won’t be citing violations for any of the new requirements.”

The old requirements however, will be cited for and fines will be assessed.

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