Worker Responsibilities:
- Print name clearly on daily attendance record personally every day.
- Have your parent/guardian fill in, read, sign the Information Card and return it the next day
- Listen to and respect crew leaders and bus drivers.
- A honest days work is expected from you.
- No horse play. There is ZERO tolerance
- Must provide Social Insurance Number.
Recommendations:
- Bring a lunch and a jug of water every day.
- Be prepared for all types of outdoor weather.
- Bring a garbage bag or raincoat to keep dry from morning dew.
- Outdoor work has the potential for contact with bees and other insects. A very small percentage of the public may react adversely to bee or insect bites/stings.
Getting Started
Corn detasseling like any job requires a good mental attitude. You will be working all day in the summer elements. Making sure that you are prepared for all of these elements means dressing for success. I have been detasseling for many years and in all those years I have found my "uniform for success". I dress in light, breathable material that also have light colours to them. The reason for this is simple, the sun; being out all day in the sun one needs to protect themselves from the sun's rays. White reflects the sun's rays, whereas darker colours absorb the sun's rays increasing your temperature. When I pick what type of material I want my clothes to be I like to wear clothes that are light and that dry quickly. You will get wet when detasseling this is just a given fact. If you are wearing clothes that dry quickly the sun will dry them for you while you work. For the morning dew and when it rains I wear a light weight rain coat, its not to keep me totally dry but to prevent me from getting completely soaked, especially in the morning when it is still cool outside. During the day the sun's rays do a great job of drying off all of my light weight clothing.
Eye Protection
The glasses are mandated by Corteva as part of the PPE ( see "Safety 1st" tab). The glasses will protect your eyes from injury.
Hat
This hat is mandated by Corteva as part of the PPE ( see "Safety 1st" tab). A hat, again this is to protect yourself from the sun; you will be working for 8 hours in the sun. Not wearing a hat increases your chances for getting heat stroke or heat exhaustion.
The light mesh type of visor attached to the hat protects your face from corn leafs.
Shirts
I wear two shirts; I have found that dressing in layers
allows me to handle any type of weather Mother Nature throws my way. I wear a white or light coloured t-shirt and then over that I wear an old long sleeve white dress shirt. The long sleeves protect my arms and prevent irritation and cuts from the leaves of the corn. If I find that the weather is getting too hot for me I take off the dress shirt and simply wear my t-shirt. I use old yet comfortable clothes.
All of these can be easily found at second hand stores.
Pants
I wear pants that have legs that can be zipper off or on. This like the shirts allows me to either take off or put the legs on the pants depending on my needs. Having the legs on they protect my legs from cuts from the corn leaves and also from sun burn.
Should the weather get hot I can unzip the legs and cool down.
Footwear
Footwear is often times one of the most over looked pieces of clothing when it comes to corn detasseling and yet it is one of the most important. Your feet are what you use to walk and part of the responsibilities of corn requires a lot of walking. I wear a nice pair of socks and an older pair of running shoes that can get dirty. With the dew that is on the plants in the morning your feet will get wet, again like all of what I wear the ideal is to have shoes that will dry and are comfortable. High tops are ideal for they give you added ankle support.
If you are interested in joining the TEAM for this year's season please fill out this form
Hope to see you.