*Presented in English with simultaneous translation available in Spanish*
*Presentado en inglés con traducción simultánea disponible en español*

Respiratory exposures in agriculture include pesticides, grain dust, livestock, mold, hay, exhaust from machinery and welding fumes. Selection and appropriate use of respiratory protection is key to prevention of acute respiratory illness and long-term disease. The Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) requires medical evaluation and fit testing for workers prior to using a respirator for certain tasks, such as pesticide application. This webinar will review WPS respiratory requirements and provide you with information and resources to initiate a respiratory fit testing program in your community. As a part of this webinar you will receive an e-copy of the Respirator Fit Test Capacity Building Guide/Workbook.

Las exposiciones respiratorias en la agricultura incluyen exposiciones a plaguicidas, polvo de granos, ganado, hongos, heno, residuos de combustión de maquinarias y vapores de soldadura. Seleccionar y usar apropiadamente la protección respiratoria es la clave para prevenir enfermedades respiratorias agudas y enfermedades a largo plazo. El Estándar para la Protección del Trabajador Agrícola (WPS, por sus siglas en inglés) requiere una evaluación médica y una prueba de ajuste antes de utilizar un respirador para ciertas tareas, como la aplicación de plaguicidas. Durante este seminario virtual se revisarán los requerimientos respiratorios del WPS y se proveerá información y recursos para iniciar un programa de pruebas de ajuste en su comunidad. Los asistentes al seminario recibirán una copia electrónica de la Guía/ Libro de trabajo para el Desarrollo de la Capacidad de Pruebas de Ajuste de Respiradores.

SPEAKER/ORADORA - Carolyn Sheridan, RN

Carolyn serves as the Executive Director and Founder of the Ag Health and Safety Alliance™ (AHSA) and brings over twenty-five years of experience serving the agricultural populations to her work. She grew up on a dairy farm in northwest Iowa and continues to farm with her husband in the same area.  Her farming and nursing background has been instrumental in her commitment to develop and deliver agricultural occupational health and safety services and programs to all generations of agriculture. Most recently she has spearheaded Gear Up for Ag™ - a program to address the health and safety issues for college and high school agricultural students, which allows her to connect with students across North America and around the globe. Carolyn is also an agricultural occupational health and safety instructor with a long history of providing trainings and presentations on this topic, which includes pesticide safety, at the local, state, regional, national, and international level.

Carolyn es Directora Ejecutiva y Fundadora de la Alianza de Salud y Seguridad agrícola (Ag Health and Safety Alliance ™, AHSA) y aporta a su trabajo más de veinticinco años de experiencia al servicio de las poblaciones agrícolas. Creció en una granja lechera en el noroeste de Iowa y continúa cultivando con su esposo en esa misma área. Su experiencia en la agricultura y enfermería ha sido fundamental en su compromiso con el desarrollo y la prestación de servicios y programas de salud y seguridad ocupacional agrícola para todas las generaciones agrícolas. Recientemente, encabeza Gear Up for Ag ™ - un programa para abordar problemas de salud y seguridad de estudiantes de agricultura a nivel secundario y universitario, que les permite conectarse con otros estudiantes de América del Norte y de todo el mundo. Carolyn también es instructora de seguridad y salud ocupacional agrícola con una larga trayectoria en capacitaciones y presentaciones sobre el tema, incluyendo seguridad con plaguicidas a nivel local, estatal, regional, nacional e internacional.

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This webinar is free of charge and open to all extension educators, regulators, agencies and centers, clinicians, industry, commodity groups and other organizations interested in the topic. The webinar will be recorded and posted on https://npsec.us/pact2020-webinars along with all other resource materials.

Part of the Pesticide Applicator Certification and Training (PACT) webinar series. The 2020 PACT biennial meeting funded through a Cooperative Agreement between Michigan State University (MSU) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19.

The PACT Planning Committee did a great job developing a comprehensive and engaging agenda with several topics that are extremely relevant to COVID-19. As a result, the MSU–EPA Cooperative Agreement will be delivering a series of webinars based on PACT topics over this next year. This provides a unique opportunity for extension educators and other stakeholders to gain knowledge and benefit from the robust agenda developed by the Planning Committee.

The goal of the PACT is to improve implementation of Certification of Pesticide Applicators Rule (40CFR171) and the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard Revision (40 CFR170) by state and tribal pesticide programs. This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement X8-83927401 to Michigan State University. Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) and the National Pesticide Safety Education Center (NPSEC) are sub-awardees on the grant.