A pesticide safety training, required annually for farmworkers, is being offered at no cost to agricultural operations statewide by certified Maui Economic Opportunity National Farmworker Training Program staff.
The Worker Protection Standard training is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration and covers pesticide safety, signs and symptoms of exposure and poisoning and emergency protocols.
Three MEO NFJP staffers have been certified to conduct the training at farm sites while providing all supplies.
The federally funded NFJP is the sole program operated by MEO that has a statewide reach. Trainings have been scheduled on Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island.
NFJP supports farmworkers and their families and the farms that employ them. For workers, NFJP aims to help generate greater economic stability by buying work clothes and other necessities and connecting farmworkers to job training, better opportunities and supportive services for themselves and their families. For farms, NFJP supports on-the-job training with subsidies and defrays the cost of required certifications, such as the Worker Protection Standard.
MEO has almost 40 clients on Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i Island, Maui, Moloka‘i and Oahu and is looking for more.
Agricultural operations interested in the Worker Protection Standard training and farmworkers in NFJP services can call (808) 344-5550 or email [email protected].
click to enlarge photos
MEO NFJP caseworkers made a visit to Kunia Country Farm/Ko Hana Rum on Oahu in July 2021.
U‘ilani Ah Chan (left) and Suzette Bacarro, Maui Economic Opportunity National Farmworker Jobs Program staffers, pose for a selfie at their table at the Maui AgFest & 4-H Livestock Fair on June 4 at the War Memorial Complex. Ah Chan and Bacarro are certified to conduct Worker Protection Standard trainings, which are free to agricultural operations.
