Qualified Person

If you are using the following classes of ecotoxic products, then in many circumstances the product will need to be under the control of a qualified person:

• class 9.1A (very ecotoxic in the aquatic environment)
• class 9.2A (very ecotoxic in the soil environment)
• class 9.3A (very ecotoxic to animals)
• class 9.4A (very ecotoxic to insects).

A qualified person may supervise others applying these ecotoxic products. This requires you to:

• provide guidance to the person doing the spraying (guidance must be specific to the job)
• be available at all times to provide assistance if necessary (you do not need to be at the application site).

Note this is an EPA control rather than a WorkSafe requirement.

 

Agrichemical users in the workplace

The qualifications required vary depending on the risk which is based largely on the type of equipment being used.

 

Method of use	Qualification needed to be a Qualified Person
Ground based application using non-motorised equipment or handheld motorised equipment with a tank capacity of less than 30 litres; and more than 30m from water or a sensitive habitat eg hydraulic knapsack, motorised knapsack away from sensitive areas	Not applicable
Spraying in/onto water eg aquatic weed management	GROWSAFE Standard (or equivalent) plus unit standard 6240 for aquatic weed control
All other spraying eg spraying near water, gun spraying, airblast or boom spraying	GROWSAFE Standard (or equivalent)

Contractors

For contract sprayers using highly ecotoxic products there is a higher requirement for training. This reflects the additional skills needed to assess and manage risks when sprayers are applying on different sites.
If you are a contractor, it is likely you will need GROWSAFE Registered Chemical Applicator certificate (or equivalent), except for knapsack spraying for which you need a minimum of GROWSAFE Standard (or equivalent).

 

Method of use	Qualification needed to be a Qualified Contractor
Ground based application using non-handheld motorised equipment eg boom or airblast sprayers	GROWSAFE Registered Chemical Applicator (or equivalent)
Ground based application using handheld motorised equipment with a tank capacity of 30 litres or more; or 30m or less from water or a sentive habitat eg gun spraying, riverbank spraying with motorised knapsack	GROWSAFE Registered Chemical Applicator with relevant strand (or equivalent) or GROWSAFE Standard (or equivalent) plus unit standard(s) specific to application type
Spraying in/onto water eg aquatic weed management	GROWSAFE Registered Chemical Applicator with Aquatic strand (or equivalent)
All other ground based spraying eg hydraulic knapsack, motorised knapsack away from sensitive areas	GROWSAFE Standard (or equivalent)

 

These requirements for qualifications replace the previous requirements for Approved Handler certificates when ecotoxic products used in a wide dispersive manner. Under the transition arrangements, Approved Handler certificates (current at 30 November 2017) are acceptable qualifications until 31 December 2019 or the expiry date of the certificate (whichever is later).

 

Full definitions of qualified person and alternative qualifications are in the EPA’s Hazardous Substances (Hazardous Property Controls) Notice

 

Note: regional plans may also have requirements for agrichemical users to hold suitable qualifications. Where the requirements differ, the higher requirement applies. Refer to your regional plan summary on the Resources page of the GROWSAFE website.