Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation

Also called: Agricultural Service Worker, Applicator, Applicator Sprayer, Certified Pesticide Applicator, Chemical Applicator

Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation

Varies

estimated salary

Pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators, vegetation mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dust, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application on trees, shrubs, lawns, or crops. Usually requires specific training and state or federal certification.

  • Mix pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for application to trees, shrubs, lawns, or botanical crops.
  • Fill sprayer tanks with water and chemicals, according to formulas.
  • Lift, push, and swing nozzles, hoses, and tubes to direct spray over designated areas.
  • Identify lawn or plant diseases to determine the appropriate course of treatment.
  • Cover areas to specified depths with pesticides, applying knowledge of weather conditions, droplet sizes, elevation-to-distance ratios, and obstructions.
  • Start motors and engage machinery, such as sprayer agitators or pumps or portable spray equipment.
  • Connect hoses and nozzles selected according to terrain, distribution pattern requirements, types of infestations, and velocities.
  • Clean or service machinery to ensure operating efficiency, using water, gasoline, lubricants, or hand tools.
  • Provide driving instructions to truck drivers to ensure complete coverage of designated areas, using hand and horn signals.
  • Plant grass with seed spreaders and operate straw blowers to cover seeded areas with mixtures of asphalt and straw.
Work Context
  • Outdoors, Exposed to Weather — 93% responded "Every day".
  • In an Enclosed Vehicle or Equipment — 87% responded "Every day".
  • Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets — 80% responded "Every day".
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 75% responded "Every day".
  • Exposed to Contaminants — 77% responded "Every day".
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 52% responded "Important results".
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 49% responded "Some freedom".
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Work Activities
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or water craft.
  • Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
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Detailed Work Activities
  • Prepare chemicals for work application.
  • Prepare chemicals for work application.
  • Treat greenery or surfaces with protective substances.
  • Treat greenery or surfaces with protective substances.
  • Operate grounds maintenance equipment.
  • Operate grounds maintenance equipment.
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Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
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Skills

Active Listening
  • Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Time Management
  • Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Speaking
  • Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking
  • Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
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Abilities

Near Vision
  • The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Control Precision
  • The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Speech Recognition
  • The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
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Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
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Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Data base user interface and query software
  • Customer database software
Inventory management software
  • Materials inventory software
Analytical or scientific software
  • Rate calculation software
  • Unit conversion software