AbstractA key problem in pesticide regulation is uncertainty about health risks. Trade‐offs between economic benefits and worker health safety are examined using an empirical illustration. Alternative decision rules for regulation under uncertainty are considered: a safety fixed rule, which protects individuals from excessive health risks, and uncertainty‐adjusted cost‐benefit analysis, which evaluates aggregate trade‐offs between health and economic welfare. These criteria may lead to opposite policy conclusions, suggesting that the most appropriate public policy is a safe minimum standard (SMS), which allows weighing of costs and benefits only after some minimum acceptable level of health safety has been assured.