Last year, Migrant Clinicians Network celebrated the newly updated Worker Protection Standard (WPS), released by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The long-awaited changes promise stronger protections for the nation’s agricultural workers while they grow and harvest the food that ends up on our tables. Now comes the next phase: education around the changes, implementation, and enforcement. MCN begins with a new resource and a webinar on the updated WPS for all health advocates, from primary care practitioners to community health workers.
Clinicians and health justice advocates need to understand the many significant changes in the WPS, and how the new WPS will impact their own work in supporting the health needs of agricultural workers. Migrant Clinicians Network and Farmworker Justice’s new joint issue brief [2] condenses the topline changes to the WPS to support those serving the agricultural worker community in helping them better protect their health from occupational hazards and risks. The issue brief covers updates regarding:
- Pesticide safety trainings
- Information about recent pesticide applications
- Protections during applications and during restricted entry intervals (REIs)
- Personal protective equipment
- Decontamination supplies
- Emergency medical assistance
The issue brief comes just a few days before MCN’s upcoming webinar, “Protecting Farmworkers: What clinicians need to know about the newly revised Worker Protection Standard [3],” on Wednesday, April 13th at 1pm Eastern. The webinar, presented by four WPS experts from the EPA, MCN, and Farmworker Justice, dives deeper into the changes and its ramifications both in the exam room and in the fields. Don’t miss this important opportunity to hear directly from WPS experts on the ins and outs of the new WPS and the next steps in integrating the changes into America’s farmland.
Read the WPS Issue Brief here [2].
Register for the WPS webinar on April 13th here [3].
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