Regulating agricultural chemicals: Limitations of the status quo

The OHS implications of the use and misuse of pesticides are serious, but the current regulatory and policy regime fails to adequately engage with them on a number of levels. The complex statutory regime and institutional arrangements are inconsistent, and sometimes inappropriate and confusing, and credible enforcement of safety requirements is minimal. Agriculture may be a special case in that the tripartite, workplace focus of the State OHS statutes does not satisfactorily accommodate its particular characteristics. Yet in other respects, the "special case" argument has been inappropriately invoked to justify an overemphasis on education and training - to the substantial detriment of credible enforcement.