TRAINING PROGRAM PROVIDED BY DEPARTMENT.

(a) The department in conjunction with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service shall develop an on-going training program for agricultural laborers. The program must provide information the department considers appropriate, and must include:

(1) information on interpreting labels and MSDSs and the relationship between those two methods of hazard communication;

(2) information on the proper storage, acute and chronic effects, and safe handling of chemicals covered by this chapter;

(3) information on protective clothing and equipment and first aid treatment to be used with respect to the chemicals covered by this chapter; and

(4) general safety instructions on the handling, cleanup procedures, and disposal of chemicals covered by this chapter.

(b) The department shall provide the training program in counties with a hired farm labor work force of 2,000 or more, according to the most recent United States Census of Agriculture. The department by rule may determine to provide the training program in additional counties with a significant farm labor work force or based on other relevant factors. In all other counties, the county office of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service shall provide the training program.

(c) The department or the county office of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, as appropriate, shall notify agricultural laborers on a regular basis of the training program by public service announcements given by the media and shall contact in writing charitable, public, religious, and health care provider organizations to announce the training program to agricultural laborers in the county served by the organization.

(d) In addition to the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, the department may develop the training program in conjunction with the Texas Department of Health, other appropriate state agencies, clinics, hospitals, and other health care providers in counties in which the training program will be conducted, and organizations representing employers, organizations representing employees, and organizations representing manufacturers of chemicals covered by this chapter.

(e) The department shall prepare and make available to employers appropriate training materials for employers covered by this chapter and their managers and labor contractors.

(f) To help cover production costs, the department may charge not more than $10 plus the cost of a blank videotape from a person desiring to purchase the videotaped training program.

(g) The department or the county office of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, as appropriate, shall provide to each agricultural laborer who completes the training program a card evidencing participation in the program. An employer may not refuse to hire an agricultural laborer solely because the laborer does not have a card issued under this subsection. An employer who refuses to hire an agricultural laborer for that reason is not entitled to the 14 days' written notice provided by Section 125.016(d) of this code.