Development of educational programs for retail stores that sell pesticides

Although homeowners usually purchase pesticides from home and garden centers, previous surveys have shown that store employees often do not receive adequate training in pest management and pesticide safety. Educational programs were conducted for retail store employees in Illinois. Topics included pest identification, integrated pest management, pesticide safety, pesticide toxicity, and emergency spill response. Evaluations suggested a high level of satisfaction with the training. Evaluation comments also indicated concern over the high turnover of seasonal employees, the wide range of employee understanding of pest management, and time constraints that may prohibit small retail stores from participating in educational programs.