Agriculture

Personal protection for agricultural chemical handling

Matching glove material, respirator filter and coverall to the label rather than to habit.

Departments: Agriculture · PPE & Workplace Safety

The single most important instruction in this guide is that the product label and the safety data sheet outrank every general recommendation, including this one. Registered agricultural remedies carry mandatory protective equipment requirements. Where the label and a general guide disagree, follow the label.

Exposure happens at mixing, not spraying

Operators consistently underestimate the mixing and loading step. That is where concentrate is handled, where splashes occur, and where the highest-dose exposure of the whole operation takes place. Specify protection for the concentrate, then relax it for application if the label allows — never the other way round.

Gloves

Thin examination gloves are not chemical handling gloves. For concentrate handling use a chemical-resistant glove of adequate thickness, with a cuff long enough to cover the forearm, and check the manufacturer's chemical resistance chart for the specific active ingredient and solvent — breakthrough time varies enormously between chemicals for the same glove material. Nitrile is a common choice, but "nitrile" alone is not a specification: thickness and breakthrough data are. Never use fabric-lined or leather gloves with chemicals; they absorb and hold the product against the skin.

Respiratory protection

A dust mask is not a chemical respirator. Where the label calls for respiratory protection, you generally need a half-face or full-face respirator with a filter matched to the hazard — commonly an organic vapour filter combined with a particulate filter for spray applications. Three points decide whether it works:

• Fit. A respirator only performs if it seals. Facial hair at the seal line defeats it entirely.
• Filter selection. Match the filter type to the hazard on the safety data sheet, not to what is in the store.
• Filter life. Filters have a service life once opened. Date them, store them sealed, and replace on schedule rather than on smell.

Body, eye and foot protection

• Coveralls — chemical-resistant, worn over clothing, with sleeves over glove cuffs and legs over boots so runoff cannot enter.
• Eye and face — sealed goggles for splash, a face shield over goggles when decanting concentrate. Standard safety spectacles do not stop a splash.
• Boots — chemical-resistant, unlined, with trousers or coverall legs worn outside the boot.
• Headgear — a chemical-resistant hood or hat when spraying above shoulder height.

Facilities that must exist before the first drum is opened

• Clean water for washing, and an emergency eye wash within immediate reach of the mixing point. A portable station covers field sites; a plumbed station suits a fixed chemical store.
• A separate, ventilated, lockable chemical store with a bunded floor.
• Somewhere to remove and wash contaminated PPE that is not the operator's home.
• Spill absorbent and a documented spill procedure.

Look after the equipment

Wash gloves before removing them, wash reusable PPE separately from other laundry, replace gloves and coveralls on a defined schedule rather than when they visibly fail, and store respirators clean and sealed. Damaged PPE gives the operator confidence without protection, which is worse than none.