INTEGRATED PLANT PROTECTION CENTER

Current and Future Initiatives in

Pesticide Education

Recertification Courses for Commercial and Public Applicators

Each winter the Program organizes four large pesticide recertification events aimed primarily at commercial and public applicators:

• The Chemical Applicators Short Course in Portland (usually second week of January)
• The Non Crop Vegetation Management Course in Corvallis (usually end of January)
• The Central Oregon Pest Management Course in Bend (usually first week of February)
• The Urban Pest Management Course in Oregon City (usually second week of February)
  

These courses bring together dozens of speakers that present on topics selected by industry advisory committees and requests from course attendees.  Each November a brochure with course agendas is mailed out to every certified public and commercial applicator in the State.  The brochure is also posted on our website at this link.  We also post each speaker's presentation at the same link.

Presentations at Recertification Events for Private Applicators

IPPC staff continually give presentations at recertification events organized by County Extension Faculty and others.  Most of the talks meet Oregon Department of Agriculture’s CORE requirements.  All will be listed on ODA’s website at http://oda.state.or.us/dbs/recert_classes/Search.lassol

Educating Hispanic Pesticide Handlers

Educating handlers whose first language is not English is a major challenge.  Most of the people in this group speak Spanish, though there are a growing number whose primary language is neither English nor Spanish.  The issue may not be entirely language related, however.  Most Spanish-speaking people who take the private applicator exam in Spanish fail it.

The Program will work with Employers, Employees, and Extension Faculty to provide immediate and long-term solutions to the challenge:

• Pre-license Training

Tim Stock will continue to provide periodic pre-license training in Spanish throughout the State, but will explore ways of making the training more effective, including incorporating ESL into the labels portion of the training, developing “self-study” materials, and increasing training time.

The Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET) at Oregon Health Sciences University is developing a computer-based pre-license training in Spanish that is self-paced and targeted at people with no computer experience.  Though the training will not be applicable in all situations, it will have its place.  Tim Stock will work with CROET to help find its place.

• Hands-on Handler Training
  

There is a tremendous demand for Spanish language training of handlers spraying under their employer’s license, whether or not they are licensed or intend to become licensed.  There is also a Worker Protection Standard (WPS) requirement that pesticide handlers be trained at least once every 5 years.  Both California and Washington State have developed highly effective hands-on handler training in Spanish that are in great demand.  Tim Stock will work with OR-OSHA, ODA, Extension Faculty, Community Colleges, and Industry to develop and implement similar training in Oregon.  The training will meet the WPS training requirement and provide Continuing Education Units for those who have a private applicator’s license.

• Resources for Limited-English-Speaking Workforce

For resources for limited English speaking workforce, click on this link:
http://www.ipmnet.org/Limited_English_Workforce.html

Drift Prevention and Sprayer Tune-up

Drift continues to be one of the top complaints to ODA.  Sprayer tune-up workshops have shown a high percentage of application equipment is not working properly.  Tim will work with Extension Faculty to develop and implement hands-on training and educational materials to improve application efficiency and reduce drift.

CORE Pesticide Training Requirement Changes

The Program is working with ODA and Extension Faculty to make the CORE training requirement more applicable to current and changing needs.  This could include requiring that Public and Commercial applicators receive CORE training and that attendees demonstrate a minimal level of competency at the end of the training