Tariq Tongue, Environmental Health Safety & Quality Manager from Flower One provides us insight into product safety and worker safety in the cannabis industry.

This week's host, Alex Hearding (Chief Risk Management Officer for National Cannabis Risk Prevention Services (NCRPS), a service of the NCRMA) , recently posted the following on Cannabis Safety:

"What safety training do cannabis workers need?

All employees who work in an area that has recently applied pesticides need to have Worker Protection Standards (WPS) training.

Pesticide Handlers are defined as those who mix, load, or apply agricultural pesticides; clean or repair pesticide application equipment; or assist with the application of pesticides.

Agricultural Workers are defined as: those who perform tasks related to growing and harvesting plants on farms or in greenhouses, or for nurseries.

These definitions would generally include all employees who work in a cultivation facility. The only exception would be if the trimmers were not involved in harvesting and were prevented from entering the grow areas. To be safe facilities should train all their employees.

The training for handlers is the same training as for agricultural workers but with additional information on personal protective equipment and on safe procedures for applying, cleaning, transporting, and disposing of pesticides. Many cultivation facilities train all their employees for pesticide handling, so they are not limited in the tasks they can partake in."