Safety awareness is in the best interests of every pesticide applicator. Many accidents are actually preventable incidents caused by inappropriate behavior or failure to follow common-sense safety precautions. Others are unforeseen events, which have the potential to change our lives forever. While a company is responsible for providing safe working conditions and the required personal protective equipment (PPE), each professional bears the personal responsibility of making safety the No. 1 priority on the job. Some aspects of safety precautions may be uncomfortable or seem to make the job take longer. Considering the inconvenience and time it takes to handle an accident, not to mention the sometimes devastating consequences, following safety practices is not optional. The label is federal law.

It’s In Your Hands
Have you ever considered the effect damage to your hands may have on the rest of your life? While it’s always important and legally required to read and follow label instructions regarding PPE, when it comes to protecting your hands, you may consider using more PPE than is required. Without the ability to use the full dexterity of your hands and fingers, how likely is it that you would be able to continue to work?

As in other things in life, experience is often the best teacher, and if you’ve ever been in the position where you or someone you love is incapacitated from an injury, you come face to face with the reality of how much we depend on our physical abilities for our livelihood and our mental well-being. This was the case for my family some time ago when my husband experienced a devastating injury to his hands.

We were in the process of remodeling a family member’s bathroom and had a group of friends over to help. We had a fire that night and in a split-second trip and fall while adding materials to the fire, my husband ended up with his hands in the coals of a mature bonfire, stuck out to prevent his whole body from entering the flames.
His charred hands instantly began to blister and swell. We had to remove his wedding ring with bolt cutters to keep it from restricting circulation to his swelling finger. After rushing him to the emergency room and failed attempts at refusing certain pain medications to avoid being admitted, we finally found ourselves in a full fledged in-patient hospital.

When a person injures a crucial part of the body, such as the hands, you come to realize how critical the use of that part is and how we tend to take that use for granted.

Wear It Well

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Wearing PPE is a very basic part of using pesticides. Not only does an applicator have to worry about the safety of others and the environment, but the applicator also needs to seriously consider their own personal safety. While these products have been rigorously tested and approved for their labeled uses, pesticides and the various adjuvants available are not perfumed toilet water. They are chemicals that may have the potential to change lives drastically and permanently.

As for our case, I am happy to report that after weeks of scraping and scrubbing off dead material and consistently changing dressings, my husband’s hands have healed from second- and third-degree burns very nicely.

While this injury was not to due pesticide exposure, the injury may have been avoided were he wearing the proper heavy leather gloves for the job. Gloves made of absorbent materials such as leather are not appropriate for applying pesticides, as absorbent materials will hold pesticides next to the skin, resulting in increased exposure.

Choosing More
When reading the PPE section of a label, note that the PPE listed is the minimum required and you may always choose to wear more unless prohibited. Consider the requirements for waterproof gloves. For legal purposes, waterproof gloves may be made of any rubber or plastic material which will remain intact for the length of the job, but take a look at the list of possible physical harms in the precautionary statements section.

Consider, “With the risk of exposure to my hands, do I want to use chemically resistant gloves anyway?” Remember that skin, particularly the skin on your hands and forearms, is the most commonly exposed area of your body. Are you using an emusifiable concentrate? Remember that oil-based products such as these are more readily absorbed by skin than water- based formulations.

These important decisions regarding what you do for your personal safety might just save your life and livelihood in the event of an accident.

Mary Beth Henry is a University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension agent for Hillsborough County.