MEO offers farmworker pesticide training
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 nonprofit announced Wednesday.
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, according to a MEO news release.
Three MEO National Farmworker Training Program staffers have been certified to conduct the training at farm sites while providing all supplies.
The federally funded program is the only one operated by MEO that has a statewide reach. Trainings have been scheduled on Kauai and
Hawaii island.
The program supports farmworkers and their families and the farms that employ them. For workers, the program 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, the program 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 Maui, Molokai, Kauai Hawaii island and Oahu and is looking for more.
Agricultural operations interested in the Worker Protection Standard training and farmworkers in National Farmworker Training Program services can call (808) 344-5550 or email cs@meoinc.org.