10.3 Communicating Pesticide Risk to Customers and the Public
Key Takeaways
- 302 KAR 26:020 Section 4(10)(b) makes knowing how to communicate information about pesticide exposures and risks with customers and the public a core competency.
- Risk equals toxicity times exposure, so honest communication explains what was applied, what the exposure pathway is, and what the person can do to reduce it - not simply that the product is 'safe.'
- Kentucky converts several communication duties into legal obligations through 302 KAR 26:080: written information at contract and at each application, posted markers, and prior notification on request.
- Applicators must give trainees and non-certified applicators site-specific and product-specific instructions in a manner they can understand, which the regulations state expressly and which may require a translator.
- In a drift or exposure complaint, the applicator should provide the product name, EPA registration number, application time, and label, and should never assert that no exposure occurred before the facts are established.
10.3 Communicating Pesticide Risk to Customers and the Public
Quick Answer: 302 KAR 26:020 Section 4(10)(b) requires certified applicators to understand how to communicate information about pesticide exposures and risks with customers and the public. Kentucky then converts a good part of that into hard law: 302 KAR 26:080 requires written information at contract signing and again at each application, a posted marker after each lawn application, and prior notification to customers, employers, and adjoining neighbors on request.
The Honest Frame: Risk = Toxicity x Exposure
The instinct under pressure is to reassure - "it's perfectly safe." That statement is both unverifiable and self-defeating, because it collapses the moment anyone reads the signal word on the container. The defensible frame is the same equation Section 3.1 taught:
That frame lets you say something true and useful:
- What was applied - product name, active ingredient, and what it targets.
- What the label says about exposure - the re-entry statement, the signal word, and any specific precaution for children or pets.
- What reduces the exposure - stay off until dry, keep pets off, wait the stated interval, wash hands, close windows during application.
- What you did to control it - coarse droplets, low boom, favorable wind, treatment scheduled when the area was unoccupied.
Never say a pesticide has no risk. Say what the risk depends on and what is being done about it.
Communication Duties Kentucky Makes Mandatory
| Duty | Trigger | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Written information at contract covering pesticides or impregnated fertilizers, application procedures, and general safe-application guidelines | Entering into a lawn care contract | 302 KAR 26:080 Sec. 1(1)(a) |
| The same information at each application, for each product used | Every lawn application | 302 KAR 26:080 Sec. 1(2) |
| Posted marker with prescribed size, support, lettering, and wording | Immediately after each lawn, golf course, interior plantscape, or sports turf application | 302 KAR 26:080 Sec. 1-4 |
| Prior notification 24 to 48 hours in advance on request, in writing, in person, or by telephone, with a written notice left if the person is unavailable | Request by a customer, an employer, or an adjoining neighbor who supplies name, address, and telephone number | 302 KAR 26:080 Sec. 1(3) |
| Safety data sheets accessible to patrons in the superintendent's office | Golf course applications | 302 KAR 26:080 Sec. 2(1)(f) |
| Section 5 information on request - thirteen items including label post-application instructions and hazard information | Any person requesting notice | 302 KAR 26:080 Sec. 5 |
| Site-specific and product-specific instructions in a manner the person can understand | Before a trainee or non-certified applicator uses a pesticide | 302 KAR 26:050 Sec. 5(3); 26:070 Sec. 4(3) |
| WPS central posting and hazard information | Covered agricultural establishments | 40 CFR Part 170 |
Section 6 of 302 KAR 26:080 makes failure at nearly every one of these an independently citable violation. In Kentucky, poor communication is not merely bad practice on lawn and turf work - it is an enforcement finding.
Talking to the Four Audiences
The Customer
Before the work: what will be applied, why, what to expect, what to do (keep children and pets off until dry, honor the interval), and what "success" looks like on a realistic timeline. An insect growth regulator that takes three weeks to collapse a cockroach population must be explained before it is applied, or the customer concludes it failed.
The Neighbor
The person most likely to file a complaint is the one who was surprised. A conversation before an application - what, when, why, and what you are doing to keep it on your side of the line - converts a potential complainant into an informed observer. When they request notification under 302 KAR 26:080 Section 1(3), honor it precisely; the request is a legal right, not a courtesy.
The Beekeeper
Bee kills are the most common non-target complaint in Kentucky. Know where registered apiaries sit relative to your work, read the label's pollinator protection box, avoid blooming plants when bees are foraging, and call the beekeeper before treating nearby so hives can be covered or moved.
The Public and the Media
Do not speculate, do not guess at the chemical, and do not minimize. Give the facts you know, refer technical questions to the KDA Division of Environmental Services, and give the poison center number for health questions: 1-800-222-1222.
Handling a Drift or Exposure Complaint
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| COMPLAINT RESPONSE - THE RIGHT ORDER |
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| 1. LISTEN AND DOCUMENT Get their account first. Time, symptoms, |
| what they observed. Do not interrupt with a defense. |
| |
| 2. HEALTH FIRST If anyone reports symptoms: Poison Control |
| 1-800-222-1222, or 911. Provide the PRODUCT LABEL - it carries the |
| active ingredient, EPA Reg. No., first aid, and Note to Physician. |
| |
| 3. PRESERVE THE RECORD Pull the 302 KAR 26:030 application record and |
| the 302 KAR 26:080 Section 5 record. Note wind, time, equipment, |
| and who was present. Do not alter anything. |
| |
| 4. DISCLOSE FACTUALLY Product name, EPA registration number, time of |
| application, and the label. Section 5 already obligates you to |
| furnish most of this on request. |
| |
| 5. DO NOT ASSERT NO EXPOSURE OCCURRED. You do not yet know. Saying so |
| destroys credibility and, if wrong, looks like concealment. |
| |
| 6. NOTIFY KDA Division of Environmental Services; your |
| operator and insurer. KRS 217B.140 gives the claimant 60 days - or |
| until 25% of an affected crop is harvested - to file a statement. |
| |
| 7. COOPERATE KRS 217B.140(5) lets you and your insurer |
| inspect the damaged property; a claimant who refuses inspection |
| automatically bars the claim. |
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Two points from that sequence deserve emphasis. First, the applicator's contemporaneous records are the whole defense - which is why the recordkeeping discipline in Section 2.2 is a communication asset, not just a compliance chore. Second, KRS 217B.140(5) gives the applicator, the registration holder, and their representatives a right to observe the affected land during reasonable hours, and a claimant who refuses that observation automatically bars the claim against the applicator.
Communicating With People You Supervise
Both supervision regulations use the same phrase, and it is a communication requirement, not a paperwork requirement. The supervisor must provide site-specific and product-specific instructions covering labeling directions, precautions, and how the site (surface and ground water, endangered species, local population) and the conditions of application (equipment, method, formulation) change the risk - in a manner the trainee or non-certified applicator can understand. Both training regulations expressly contemplate delivering training through a translator, and both require the trainer to be present for the entire program and to answer questions. Handing someone a label and walking away does not satisfy either regulation.
Exam Alert: Two ideas carry this section. First, never characterize a pesticide as risk-free; explain risk = toxicity x exposure and what reduces the exposure. Second, in Kentucky the communication duties on lawn, turf, golf, and interior plantscape work are legal obligations under 302 KAR 26:080 whose breach is separately citable under Section 6.
A homeowner calls a Kentucky lawn care applicator an hour after a treatment, upset and asking whether the product is dangerous to their children. Which response best satisfies the professionalism standard in 302 KAR 26:020 Section 4(10)(b)?
A neighbor alleges that a Kentucky applicator's application drifted onto their vegetable garden. What should the applicator do first?
Under 302 KAR 26:050 and 302 KAR 26:070, how must a supervising applicator deliver site-specific and product-specific instructions to a trainee or non-certified applicator?