EPA’s proposed Worker Protection Standard and the burdens of the past

Abstract

The proposed changes represent an improvement over existing legislation, but do not go far enough. The revision should be strengthened along lines suggested by farm workers themselves, and other labor laws must also be amended to give the men, women, and children who work in the fields of this country full rights and protections.

Agricultural Workplace Compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency's Worker Protection Standard

“…While everyone is at risk for pesticide exposure to some extent, agricultural workers have a higher risk for occupational exposure to agricultural pesticides than the general public and other workers (Calvert et al, 2014). As a result, they are at an increased risk for pesticide-related illnesses, compounding the many social and cultural vulnerabilities that are inherent among this group (Bohme, 2015;Calvert et al, 2014).…”

“…The WPS has evolved substantially since the EPA passed the first version in 1974. In the original version, agricultural workers were essentially prohibited from applying pesticides when unprotected workers were in the area being treated, but this initial version of the regulation neglected to address other sources of pesticide exposure (Bohme, 2015;Calvert et al, 2014).…”

“…Labor rights activists and farmworker safety advocates have argued that the WPS was an overdue landmark regulation (Bohme, 2015;Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). Prior to the passage of the original WPS in 1974, most labor laws explicitly excluded agricultural workers from the basic workplace protections afforded to their industrial counterparts, including minimum wage requirements, overtime pay standards and laws restricting child labor, based on a concept known as "agricultural exceptionalism" (Holdier, 2019;Robinson et al, 2011 (Cabrera & Leckie, 2009).…”

“…Following a review of the WPS in 1983, the original requirements were deemed largely inadequate in scope of coverage, neglecting to account for pesticide handlers and a number of pesticide exposure routes, most notably drift (Bohme, 2015;Calvert et al, 2014;Environmental Protection Agency, 2015 The decision to update the standard was largely influenced by a 1992 EPA report stating that 10,000-20,000 agricultural workers were diagnosed with a pesticide poisoning each year (Calvert et al, 2014;Environmental Protection Agency, 1992), and was also motivated by concerns raised by agricultural groups and members of the public (Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). Despite the progress that was made, stakeholders continued to advocate for another revision to the WPS, concerned that the requirements still did not go far enough to protect agricultural workers (Bohme, 2015; Environmental Protection Agency, 2015).…”

“…As a result, several minor amendments were made throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and finally in 2014, the EPA proposed significant updates to the 1992 WPS in response to extensive stakeholder review and to reflect more current research on how to mitigate occupational pesticide exposure among agricultural workers (Bohme, 2015). The proposed revision was made available for public comment in March 2014…”