Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation

What the job really is

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application on trees, shrubs, lawns, or crops. Usually requires specific training and state or federal certification.

At a glance

• Sector: Building & Grounds
• O*NET-SOC code: 37-3012
• O*NET job zone: 2 — some preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 10
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• 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.

Tools and technology

Facebook, Google Android, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Air purifying respirators, Backpack sprayers, Boom sprayers, Broadcast boom sprayers, Chemical protection gloves, Chemical-resistant footwear, Chemical-resistant suits

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
• Agricultural Equipment Operators
• Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
• Pest Control Workers
• Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
• Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
• Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
• Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 2 (some preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.