By Marcy Harrington and Pablo Palmández
This article was originally published in the Western Forester Oct/Nov/Dec 2024 Issue. The publication is available in English and in Spanish.
Imagine your job requires using a chemical that could be toxic to you or others if not handled correctly. Now imagine the instructions for safely handling that chemical are written in a language you don’t understand, except for a single sentence: “If you do not understand this label, find someone who can explain it to you in detail.” That’s the reality for many workers in farming and forestry—many of them native Spanish speakers—who apply pesticides (this includes herbicides). Pesticide labels are currently only written in English except for that single sentence in Spanish. And as is commonly taught in pesticide safety classes, ‘The Label is the Law.’
The Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health (PNASH) Center, has been at the forefront of research with Latine pesticide handlers, and demonstrating the pervasive need for translation. Now, there is a new requirement from the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA) of 2022 for English/Spanish bilingual labels. This will be a slow process to translate thousands of product labels, and for the EPA and many companies to develop a sound translation system.
We are pleased to share that we have bilingual help for forestry applicators. PNASH has just released the FREE resource, Bilingual Pesticide Labels for Reforestation Worker Safety / Etiquetas bilingües de pesticidas para la seguridad de los trabajadores de reforestación. Including a handbook of labels (English and Spanish), translation dictionary, and a trainers guide. And soon, this detailed pesticide safety information will also be available in our PestiSeguro / PestiSafe App.
37 of the most commonly used products for vegetation control are included. These resources were developed through funding by Oregon OSHA and partnership with the Oregon Pesticide Education Program. Dozens of local agency and industry contributors advised this project and the selection of products. Thank you to all of you that contributed.
This service project builds on PNASH’s past work and provides new resources to meet pesticide safety trainer, supervisor and worker needs. It also serves as a model for bilingual accessibility.
Errors can be costly
PNASH tested translation originally with tree fruit farmers in Washington, a majority of whom were native Spanish speakers. About 94 percent of respondents said the translations were clear and understandable, which in turn helped them use pesticides more safely. “People want to do the right thing,” Kit Galvin, PNASH Senior Research Scientist said. “Employers want their workers to be healthy, and workers want to follow safety precautions. This app is providing people with a tool to do what they already want to do.” Mishandling pesticides can harm people, crops, communities and the environment. These errors also cost farmers time and money. Between 2010 and 2017, there were 630 cases of occupational pesticide-related illness in Washington agriculture identified by the state Department of Health (DOH). Nearly 80 percent of the cases were related to farmworkers’ inability to access, understand or act on pesticide safety requirements or instructions, according to DOH. PNASH’s translation does not replace the official English-language pesticide label, which is the law, and the full label information also provides application instructions, but it can help keep workers safe. Workers who tested the app said the Spanish translation helped them explain safety measures to co-workers and better understand the English pesticide label.
Latine Forestry Worker Safety
This project was conducted for reforestation pesticide handlers, a workforce that is largely Latine, faces significant language barriers to accessing label information, and has limited organizational and safety training support. According to U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification data, Oregon has seen a significant increase in H2B forestry guest worker visas compared to the other states in the country. In Oregon, approved worker visas rose from 750 to over 4000 from 2015 to 2021. And within Oregon, Jackson County has seen the most growth of H2B forestry workers. In previous PNASH research with 99 forestry services workers in Jackson County, workers most commonly reported broken bones, chainsaw lacerations, back pain, heat illness, and pesticide illness. This list also mirrors what is also seen in OSHA reporting. Forestry services workers have been traditionally underserved, yet Oregon OSHA, the Northwest Forest workers Center and PNASH have stood out in their efforts to serve the safety needs of this hidden workforce. And now, many other new programs are seeing and meeting the needs of this industry and not just in safety – there is more to be done to include Latine entrepreneurs in our forestry professional community (See fall 2023 Western Forester “A Ground-Up Approach to Building an Equitable and Sustainable Forest Workforce”).
Finding the right words
Spanish-speaking farmworkers come from different countries where phrasing and accents differ. Finding the right words that are true to the pesticide label but also universally understood is challenging, said Pablo Palmández, PNASH’s agricultural safety and research extensionist. PNASH’s team uses consensus translation, in which several people translate a document and combine efforts in order to find the most accurate translation. The dictionary developed for PNASH’s translations draws on the interagency expertise of multiple bilingual pesticide safety education programs, including the Washington Department of Agriculture, as well as the Spanish Translation Guide for Pesticide Labeling provided by the EPA. Yet PNASH’s translations are unique, drawing on our own audience research and filling in gaps in current resources. We understand this is a work in-progress, and invite people to build on our work and also provide your constructive feedback so we can improve our resources.
Pablo Palmández has taken this work on as a passion project, piecing together many small grants to build out a robust translation. He speaks to this belief saying “This product is going to improve the long-term health and safety of workers.”
How to use resources and train forestry handlers
Download a free version of the Bilingual Handbook and Translation Glossary. This content will also be available soon through the PestiSeguro App.
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Marcy Harrington is a research coordinator with the PNASH Center and can be reached at marcyw@uw.edu. Pablo Palmández is an agricultural research and safety extensionist with the PNASH Center and can be reached at palmap@uw.edu.
