Nursery Worker - Dock

Job description

Crops/Commodities:
nursery stock, flowers, bedding plants, shrubs.
Production (Planting/Plant Maintenance/Harvesting)
Plants, cultivates and maintains in condition for shipping and resale to customers nursery stock. Pots seedlings, prunes, spaces, irrigates and culls plants to ensure availability of marketable products. Workers will perform work including but not limited to planting, transplanting, watering in nurseries and seasonal holding houses. Count and inventory plants. Propagate plants from cuttings. Fill, lift and carry various size pots with soil and plants weighing as much as 60 pounds. Select plants for transport to the dock. Plants must be handled carefully so that minimal leaves, limbs and roots are broken during transplanting process. Performs any other duties involved in the maintenance of plant materials and nursery stock and maintenance of holding yards and shipping areas.

Essential duties: Maintain a clean, neat, orderly and safe work area. Ability to read numbers and names and differentiate between plants. Clean pots and plants. Repot/assemble plants in containers as directed by supervisor. Proficient and safe use of hand tools including but not limited to shovels and clippers. Lift, carry, and load/unload products or supplies.

Weed Control
Any worker assigned to or engaged in weed control will be under the direct supervision and management of a certified pesticide applicator in accordance with provisions at 40 CFR Part 170, the federal EPA Worker Protection Standard. Accordingly, workers will be required to either possess current WPS handler training (must have been trained as a WPS handler within the last 12 months) or demonstrate the ability to be trained to be compliant with handler requirements under the Part.

Dock
On the dock, workers will sort, clean, re-pot, assemble and label nursery stock in accordance with employer standards. Final product will be placed on trays and loaded on trucks for delivery.

Essential duties: Maintain a clean, neat, orderly and safe work area. Ability to read numbers and names and differentiate between plants. Clean pots and plants. Repot/assemble plants in containers as directed by supervisor. Pack finished product securely in boxes and place in trays. Load finished trays onto racks. Shrink wrap finished racks and verify correct name and UPC are on labels.
Load and unload plants from trucks. Proficient and safe use of hand tools including but not limited to shovels and clippers. Lift, carry, and load/unload products or supplies.

Must understand nursery quality control standards and have working knowledge of production procedures. Must select plants according to specific standards. Products must be handled carefully to prevent damage.

Work is to be done for long periods of time. Work requires repetitive movements and extensive walking. Workers are expected to perform duties including boxing, weighing and loading of product. Workers will assist in loading trucks with packaged product weighing up to and including 60 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet for long periods of time.

All Production

Supervisor(s) will provide instructions and directions to workers. Workers must be able to comprehend and follow instructions and communicate effectively to supervisors. Unusual, complex or non-routine activities will be supervised. Workers expected to perform basic duties in a timely and proficient manner without close supervision. Employer will instruct workers in the safety and operation of equipment before use. Workers must operate equipment in a manner that protects operator, visitors, other workers, products, trees, crops and equipment. Failure to comply with safety requirements and operating instructions may result in termination. Must wear assigned personal protective equipment when required. Must report for work daily wearing work clothing and boots or other durable foot wear.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of three months of prior agricultural experience working in a nursery, green house or crop farm handling both manual and machine tasks associated with commodity production and harvest activities. Applicants must be able to furnish verbal or written statement establishing relevant prior work experience. Workers must be able to perform manual and mechanized tasks with accuracy and efficiency. Saturday work required. Must be able to lift/carry 60 lbs. Employer-paid post-hire drug and alcohol testing required upon reasonable suspicion of use. Workers that live in employer-provided housing must have or agree to receive a COVID-19 vaccination in accordance with company policy set forth in the Job Order.