Inslee Outlines New Guidelines For Ag Workers

Governor Jay Inslee outlined more health and safety guidelines for workers in the agricultural industry during a press conference Thursday.

Inslee said a critical part of Thursday's proclamation is the requirement that ag workers be separated into cohorts that will not interact with each other.

"We need workers in small cohorts, not more that 15 people together, that are protected from exposure to other people working, whether in housing or during transportation." explained Inslee, "This model, if it's adhered to properly, can tremendously reduce the risk to agricultural workers."

Farm workers are also required to have access to facial coverings on the job when they aren't working alone. So far, Washington state has distributed about 135,000 cloth facial coverings to ag workers.

Large work sites will also be required to have roughly 4 times as many hand washing stations.