Agrichemical Dispersal Staff Training and Procedures

In plain language

If you are using drones to spray agricultural chemicals, your staff must be properly trained and you must have specific safety procedures in place.

Requirement as structured

The CAA states that staff dispersing agricultural chemicals under a Part 102 certificate must have specific training and established procedures to mitigate operational risks.

Original regulatory text

Many agricultural chemicals are DGs, so operators must be aware of the risks of carrying DG and the precautions to follow, as outlined above and in the ACs for Part 92. Operators do not need a DG approval to carry agricultural chemicals for immediate dispersal during an agricultural aircraft operation. They do, however, need DG approval if transporting those same chemicals by air for later use (e.g. a delivery to a job site). Operators who are unsure if they need to declare the carriage of DG, should consult the DG materials in the Further Resources section. If still unsure, operators can email DG@caa.govt.nz for advice. CAA also run courses on DG: there is a schedule on these webpages: https://www.aviation.govt.nz/safety/education/courses-and-workshops Operators need to bear in mind that civil aviation regulations are not the only ones that apply to agrichemicals. Some products that are not classed as DGs in civil aviation rules may be classified as hazardous substances or have controls applied by other regulations, notably: • the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) Act 1997, which the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) administers, or • the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (HSNO), which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers, or • National Environmental Standards and National Planning Standards, which the Ministry for the Environment administers, or • Regional plans, which regional councils, or Territorial Authorities (TAs), manage. All relevant regulations and standards, except for regional plans, are compiled in Standards New Zealand’s NZS 8409: 2021 Management of agrichemicals. While this is not a free resource, holders of a current Growsafe certificate can access an online version of the standard for free through a portal on the Growsafe website. To disperse agricultural chemicals safely under Part 102, staff need: • training, as noted in the Training section of this AC, above, and • specific procedures to mitigate these risks.

Applies when

operation

Agrichemical spraying