FW: Request for Abstracts for EPA's 2007 Pesticide Worker Safety and Health Conference (due 6/1/07)

[Guest guest]

FYI....

PROTECTING THE PESTICIDE WORKFORCE

The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Pesticide Programs will

host a Pesticide Worker Safety and Health Conference on October 2-4,

2007, in Arlington, Virginia. The conference will provide an

informational forum for federal and state agencies and private sectors

organizations involved in pesticide worker safety and health programs,

policies and research initiatives.

The conference will focus on measuring the impact of current worker

protection initiatives and developing effective interventions where

protective gaps exist. The conference will also highlight the

accomplishments of the Agency's worker protection initiatives in

partnership with our grantees. The Agency and its partners are

committed to enhancing the standards for protecting workers from harmful

exposure to pesticides.

The Agency is requesting presentation abstracts for the Pesticide Worker

Safety and Health Conference. Presentations relevant to the theme of

improving pesticide worker health, including: applicators, handlers,

farmworkers and their families are recommended and should fall into one

of the following areas:

Administrative or policy solutions

Engineering controls

Education or training of workers

Risk communication

Role of surveillance and findings

Exposure assessment

Please submit presentation abstracts to the Environmental Protection

Agency by June 1, 2007. Send abstracts and inquiries to:

Worker_Safety_health_Conference@....

Presentation abstracts should be 400 words or less and include:

presentation title, intervention area (if applicable), content overview,

and an estimate of time needed; speaker, position, affiliation, and

contact information. Abstracts will be reviewed and prospective

speakers will be contacted in June 2007.

BACKGROUND on the Environmental Protection Agency's Pesticide Worker

Safety Program

The Environmental Protection Agency's agricultural worker protection

regulation was designed to protect employees on farms, forests,

nurseries, and greenhouses from occupational exposures to agricultural

pesticides. The regulation contains requirements for agricultural

employers to protect their employees through: pesticide safety training,

notification of pesticide applications, use of personal protective

equipment, restricted entry intervals following pesticide application,

decontamination supplies, and emergency medical assistance. The

Environmental Protection Agency's certification of pesticide applicators

regulation sets standards of competency for commercial and private

applicators applying restricted-use pesticides. Implementing these two

regulations is a key part of the Agency's strategy for reducing

occupational exposures to pesticides. The Agency recently conducted an

assessment of the national pesticide worker safety program with an

in-depth review of the federal and state implementation and enforcement

of the relevant regulations. Representatives from farmworker advocates,

the cooperative extension service, commodity organizations, our state

regulatory partners, other federal agency representatives, pesticide

industry and individual growers met with the Agency to voice their

concerns and give recommendations regarding the implementation of the

regulations. The numerous recommendations, contained in a national

assessment report are now being considered for potential regulatory

changes. The full report is posted on the EPA website at:

http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/safety/newnote/wksp4-training.pdf