OSEA Safety Blog

Lawnmower Safety – Check your parts and keep your parts intact

A five-year-old girl playing in the yard suffered a foot injury when she attempted to jump on a riding lawnmower operated by a relative. More than 80,000 people go to the emergency room each year because of lawnmower injuries per the consumer Product Safety Commission.

How can you help keep yourself and your loved ones from avoiding this?

• Wear proper footwear – don’t go barefoot or wear sandals.
• Watch out for kids. It is never a good idea to allow a child to ride along with you on a riding mower. Both kids and equipment can be unpredictable.
• Avoid yard missiles (Many years ago, I ran over a pipe in our lawn which became a projectile)
• Watch for foreign objects (I accidently cut the cable wire 5 minutes before the Kentucky Derby)
• Don’t pull backward whenever possible. If you slip you could end up pulling the mower over you.
• Take special precautions when mowing hills. Mowing hills side to side with push mowers, if the hill is wet you are more likely to slip and cause an accident
• According to the CDC many lawnmowers can reduce over 100 decibels, hearing protection for industry is intended for readings over 85 decibels so its not a bad idea to wear ear buds or some type of hearing protections.
• Keep clear of moving blades – if blades are spinning, don’t unclog the chute, adjust the wheel height or have any appendages in harms way.
• If you bag your grass don’t let the hopper get so full that grass is stuck in the cute or removing the grass makes the bag very heavy. In addition to potentially injuring your back; the mower will not run as effectively.