News

Re-entry Intervals (REI)

Published: 19 February 2025
REIs are the time during which you may not enter a crop without wearing PPE to ensure your safety. WorkSafe has set REIs for some agrichemicals. These come into force in June 2025.

For full details see the WorkSafe website

 


Growsafe videos

Published: 4 October 2024
We recently created ten videos across a range of topics to provide guidance to agrichemical users on safe, responsible and effective use. It is great to have videos that reflect the equipment, weeds and PPE that we see in Aotearoa (and of course the Kiwi accent).

Putting together the videos was an interesting and challenging experience with numerous details to consider.  One of the videos covers the process of cleaning and removing PPE after spraying. Our video producer asked us at what point we were going to rinse the tap that we’d touched with 'dirty' gloves to turn it on at the start of the washdown. A great question! 

There are also two videos looking at respirators – how to clean them properly and another on checking the seal each time you use them.  Another video looks at how to clean up a minor spill. 

Five of the videos focus on knapsack spraying (mixing, checking equipment, managing drift etc) and we plan to develop similar videos for motorised spray application equipment.  There is also a video on calibrating measuring equipment such as jugs and checking the volume of a knapsack tank. 

All ten videos are now available to view on the Growsafe website under the Resources tab.  Take a look!

 


Annual report 2023-24

Published: 12 September 2024
NZAET has published its annual report for the financial year ending 31 March 2024.

 


New training manager

Published: 15 July 2024
Sandra Cohen has recently joined our small team to manage our Growsafe Basic and Standard programmes. This involves overseeing the course content, online options, the quality assurance process, and also looking after our 25 accredited Growsafe trainers.

 


Collaboration in the aerial sector

Published: 10 June 2024
In May, in collaboration with the Fertiliser Quality Council and the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association, NZAET introduced an accreditation scheme for aerial applicators of agrichemicals. The scheme provides assurance of good practice through an independent audit. It has enabled the alignment of quality assurance processes in the aerial agrichemical sector with those for ground applicators; and also with those for fertiliser application. NZS 8409:2021 Management of agrichemicals is the underpinning document for the audit.