The first person you pay

Filling and labeling are the obvious first tasks, and this is the craft where training is a legal obligation rather than a courtesy.

What to hand over

Filling, capping, sealing, labeling, packing and order picking.

Cleaning down, once the procedure is written and the incompatibilities are understood.

Weighing of bulk ingredients, once somebody is comfortable with a scale and a written sheet.

What not to hand over

Handling concentrated acids and alkalis, until they have been trained properly.

pH adjustment, which is where an overshoot ruins a batch and where a careless addition of a strong adjuster is the burn risk.

Batch release, which is a judgment against a specification.

And anything touching claims: label copy, listings and answering customers about what the product does. That is how a compliant product acquires a pesticidal claim.

Hazard communication is a legal duty

The part that distinguishes this from the other crafts. Under the OSHA hazard communication standard, an employer working with hazardous chemicals owes employees information and training.

In practice: safety data sheets accessible, containers labeled, training on the hazards and the precautions, and a written program.

This attaches from the first employee and it is not optional or scaled to size.

It is also, straightforwardly, the right thing: somebody handling a caustic concentrate needs to know what it does and what to do if it reaches their eye.

The employment part

Employee and contractor are distinguished by the reality of the arrangement rather than by what it is called.

Wage and hour obligations attach from the first person.

And tell your insurer, because somebody else handling chemicals on your premises is a different risk from you doing it alone.

References