The Pesticide Stewardship Alliance (TPSA) has presented Garnet Cooke, Pesticide Coordinator, Oregon OSHA, with its award for program excellence during its annual conference in San Diego, California in February, 2017.

Garnet Cooke is one of the national leaders in educating regulators, pesticide users and others about the correct respirators to wear when mixing, loading or applying pesticides. Garnet has been the driving force in moving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revise respirator statements on pesticide labels. This has included educating EPA on current respirator terminology and standards and working with other state agency organizations to raise awareness about the need to reduce risk through development of clear and consistent respirator labeling.

Cooke developed a respirator outreach document, “Respirators 101”, for the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative (PERC), a cooperative agreement between EPA and the University of California Davis in cooperation with Oregon State University. The purpose of the document is to help people understand the respirator terminology so they can select the correct respiratory protection for pesticide applications. In addition, Cooke has conducted regular training on selecting the correct respirator for pesticide applications – for pesticide applicators, state regulators and federal regulators.

We at the Institute wish to congratulate Garnet on her years of commitment towards minimizing the risks among workers in Oregon who use pesticides or work in environments where pesticides are applied.