WPS protects two groups: workers (people doing hand labor in treated areas) and handlers (people mixing, loading, applying). Different rules apply to each — and as a custom applicator, you're a handler on someone else's farm.
The pieces you'll actually touch
- REI enforcement: keep workers out of the treated area for the label's restricted-entry interval. Communicate it to the grower in writing at the job.
- Posting & oral notification: some products require posted signs at field entries, some require telling workers, some require both — the label says which.
- Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ): the moving zone around application equipment that must be clear of people — suspend application if someone enters.
- Decontamination supplies: water, soap, towels, and eye-flush for handlers at the mix site.
- Training & central posting: annual worker/handler training, plus the safety poster, application records, and SDS available at a central location.
- Minimum age 18 for handlers.
How WPS applies to drone work
You're the handler: your PPE, your decontamination supplies, your training. The AEZ travels with the aircraft — someone walks into the zone, you stop. And because you can finish a field before anyone notices, tell the grower the REI before you leave. The most common WPS failure in custom work is a worker walking into a field nobody told them was treated.
A clean handoff at every job
- Give the grower the product name, REI end time, and any posting requirement — in writing.
- Confirm who's posting signs (you or them) before you launch.
- Leave a copy of the application record.
- Note the handoff in your own file.
See EPA WPS; requirements are detail-heavy — read the label and current rule. Related: PPE.
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