Every homeowner spends a good portion of time on lawn care and maintenance. Despite lawn maintenance being a common chore, there are risks involved due to the nature of the equipment used and the terrain. According to George Mason University, between the years 2004 and 2006, over 242,000 Americans were treated in the emergency room due to accidents during lawn care. They highlight typical injuries resulting from getting too close to moving parts, but also the aches and pains due to the physical labor.
Injuries during lawn care can occur when an object being ejected from the mower blade strikes a person. Running over rocks, toys, or litter can result in those objects being thrown, sometimes at a speed of over 100 miles an hour. Many times, it is children that are struck when lawn care is being done in the same yard a child is playing in. Flying objects can also result in broken windows of nearby homes or cars, as well as damage to the mower blades. Prior to beginning lawn care and maintenance, check the area for loose rocks or other debris. In addition, turn off the mower blade while going over driveways or other landscaping where rocks and pebbles are found.
It is not pleasant to think of an extremity interacting with a mower blade; but it happens. Of the many scenarios, it's possible to get your foot caught when you are reversing direction. Mowing wet grass doesn't help your odds of slipping under the mower deck. Wearing close toed shoes with gripping soles, as well as waiting until the blade has stopped moving completely before approaching it for service are safer bets.
A riding mower has its own challenges. The BBC states that over 66,000 Americans were injured while using a riding lawnmower over a five year period of time. Many of these injuries were caused by falls from the lawnmower or by the lawnmower tipping over. Children have been injured from falling off the mower while riding with adults. Lawn care and maintenance on steep hills or on wet slippery surfaces can also result in the lawn mower tipping. Falling from the mower can result in amputations from direct contact with the blade. It can also result in severe injury when the mower tips on top of the fallen individual.
On the other hand, lawn care and maintenance can seem like such a relatively sedentary or peaceful activity. But, have you ever wrenched your back or thrown out your shoulder from just pulling the starter cord? You can slip on wet grass and sprain an ankle or twist a wrist catching yourself, among other things. Pushing that mower up a hill or holding out that electric trimmer for hours can certainly make for sore muscles; as can kneeling in the soil plucking all those weeds. Those intermittent chores that you only do a few times a year are breeding grounds for finding muscles you forgot you had. To help prevent such aches and pains, why not stretch? Athletes stretch to get their muscles ready to work and prevent injuries; why shouldn't you before you rev up that weed eater? All bets are off if you hurt yourself stretching.
Electrocution or shocks can occur when one is doing lawn care and maintenance with electric equipment, such as a weed whacker or electric lawnmower, and the electric cord is accidentally cut. In addition, when lawn care is being done around electric boxes or wires, the individual can be badly injured if those live electric wires are contacted. Just like identifying underground wires before you dig, you should also identify above ground wires before you begin lawn care and maintenance. But, let's say you do nick or sever a wire because you forget to call and have the underground wires located. Then, if the electricity or gas from the exposed lines doesn't get you, the dreaded frying pan injury to the head will because you just knocked out all the creature comforts to the house.
Burns can be another result of lawn care and maintenance accidents. Burns can occur when the equipment runs out of fuel and you attempt to add gasoline to the tank while the engine is still hot. These burns can easily be prevented by filling up prior to beginning lawn care or by allowing time for the engine to cool prior to refueling. You may have never read it before, but your equipment's owner's manual will give you direction on this as well.
You can disturb insects or other animals while doing yard work. It's possible to aggravate bees and be stung by many at one time. Ticks can jump on you from nearby trees. Heaven forbid that you run over a nest of baby rabbits. Whose yard is it anyway?
While lawn care is often a weekly occurrence at nearly every home, accidents are common and can have significant consequences. However, by being aware of the surroundings and practicing a few basic safety measures, lawn care and maintenance can be done safely and effectively, producing a beautiful lawn that is the envy of the neighborhood. Each tool and task has its own set of challenges and safety should be paramount. You must take the time to read that owner's manual. And we haven't even talked about tools like chain saws and rototillers. They are a whole story by themselves.
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