Lawn Care Equipment Safety – Things You Must Need To Know

For some homeowners, lawn care is an essential task they must perform on a regular basis while others do it as their pastime. Regardless of which league you belong to, a good number of different types of lawn care equipment are required to take effective care of your lawn. Using the right equipment for the

task would not only make lawn maintenance convenient but help you get a lush, healthy lawn as well.

Though lawn care isn’t considered hazardous by most homeowners, the CPSC or Consumer Product Safety Commission throws a different light on it. According to it, each year over 230,000 people are treated for injuries associated with lawn and garden tools. And these are typically triggered by failing to use safety equipment, neglecting to wear protective gears, using slippery or wet footwear, among others.

Fortunately, a lot of these accidents can be avoided by prioritizing safety in your lawn care regimen. In this post, we’re going to discuss how to maintain the utmost safety when handling common lawn care equipment so that you can take care of your lawn in a hazard-free way.

Before delving deeper into the tips, we think it’s important to take a quick look on different types of lawn care tools. There’re two types of tools commonly used in lawn maintenance. The first one is simple, low-tech hand tools such as rakes, shovels, pruning shears, etc. And the second group is power

tools such as lawn mower, lawn aerator, grass trimmer, leaf blower, among others. While the first group of tools can be safely used by following some general precautions, you’d need to follow some specific guidelines when using power tools. We’ll start with safety precautions for power tools and then move on to the general guidelines.

Lawn Mower

When it comes to effective lawn care, lawn mowing is one of the essential tasks that need to be performed. Lawn mowers are highly powerful tools and account for a significant percentage of injuries every year. The sharp blades of the tool rotate at a high speed triggering a potential risk of accidents. Additionally, they can send bacteria and dirt deep into a wound, if you’re suffering from one, increasing the risk for infection. Keep the following tips in mind when performing lawn mowing to stay safe.

• Keep the mower in good working condition. If you’re using it after a long-time, be sure to have it serviced.
• If you want to inspect it, make sure the motor is turned off.
• Always use a broom handle or stick to remove debris.
• Read the lawn mower manual before you start using it. It’ll help you stay away from adverse practices.
• Never add fuel when the mower is hot or running. Instead, do it before starting the engine. If it’s
• a battery-powered one, charge it fully prior to using. If you use an electric one, make sure the cord isn’t frayed.
• Never use it under the influence of alcohol or drugs that may impair judgment.
• Stay fully focused. Never talk on the phone, text, or listen to music when doing lawn mowing.
• Never use feet and hands to touch the blades even when the motor is off.
• Don’t leave the lawn mower unattended when it’s running. If you’ve to walk away from it, shut the engine off.
• Wear safety glasses and earphones to safeguard the eyes from flying debris and the ears from the adverse effects of the mower’s noise.
• When mowing slopes and hills, don’t pull the mower towards you. Mow up and down instead of side to side. It’ll stop the tool from tipping over.
• Never allow extra riders if you use a riding mower.

Hedge Trimmer

Hedge trimming is an essential task to keep the bushes even. Though hedge trimmers are easy to operate, they can cause serious damages if you don’t follow safety precautions. It isn’t rare to get the hands and body parts of the operator injured when using a hedge trimmer. Since you need to hold this tool for long periods, hedge trimming often becomes a tiring task. So, try to use a lightweight, portable trimmer with padded handles to stay comfortable throughout the task. Here’re the safety tips you should follow.

• Clean the workspace as much as you can. From garden hoses and lawn debris to kids’ toys and dead and loose branches – remove any unnecessary thing that may obstruct your view of the bush.
• Wear a standard set of safety equipment. These include safety glasses, non-slip boots, work gloves, long sleeves, and long pants.
• Hold the trimmer firmly on the ground when starting it. If it comes with a pull-start engine, don’t wrap the starter cord around the hand. Instead, use the handle to start it.
• If you’ve got an electric hedge trimmer, never use it in wet weather. If you do, not only it may start malfunctioning but give electric shocks as well.

Lawn Aerator

When it comes to helping your lawn absorb essential nutrients, lawn core aeration plays a crucial role. But core aeration is not only a time-consuming and fatiguing process but needs professional expertise as well. The process involves jabbing steel equipment into the ground, which essentially leaves several safety concerns such as damaging your own feet. Homeowners, who perform DIY lawn care projects, sometimes inadvertently damage cables, septic lines, and irrigation systems that eventually bring unnecessary expenses. These are the main reasons why lots of homeowners prefer to hire a reputable lawn care company to do this job. If you still want to take the DIY route, keep the following tips in mind.

• Keep your feet and hands away from rotating or moving parts.
• Wear safety equipment including earphones and boots.
• While operating, firmly hold the aerator handle with both hands.
• Don’t use it on hard surfaces such as concrete.
• Replace any broken or damaged tines to avoid overloading the aerator.
• Don’t tilt the machine to expose the tines when they’re rotating.
• Clear any objects out of your way when working with the aerator.
• Make sure the aerator doesn’t become jammed with debris and dust.

Weed Trimmer

If you want to reach the spots that you cannot by performing lawn mowing, you need to use a weed trimmer. It lets you cut tall grass and weeds that can be found in corners and edges. Though weed trimmer is a lightweight tool, it can be highly dangerous if you don’t take proper safety precautions.

Whether from flying debris and rocks or the trimmer head’s strings – danger can come in different forms and can harm both the operator, as well as, the bystanders. Here’re the safety tips you need to follow

when using a weed trimmer.

• Remove stones, debris, sticks, and other obstacles from the site prior to trimming.
• If you use an electric trimmer, make sure there aren’t any cuts or scrapes in the extension cords.
• Never operate an electric trimmer in wet weather or around water puddles.
• When using, make sure the trimmer string doesn’t come into contact with communication lines and electrical wires.
• Protect yourself with safety glasses, hard boots, earphones, gloves, long-sleeve shirts, and long pants.
• Never leave a trimmer unattended, whether electric or gas-powered, while running.
• Before you start trimming, make sure all bystanders and kids are out of your way.
• If you want to use an edging blade, make sure the trimmer is designed to accept it.
  

Leaf Blower

A leaf blower is a perfect addition to any homeowner’s lawn care equipment. This versatile power tool not only helps you clear a ton of leaves quickly but can be useful for clearing light snow, sandy decks, dirty walkways, etc as well. While a leaf blower certainly makes lawn care much easier, it also comes

with several safety concerns. The use of leaf blowers without safety measures may lead to cuts, bruises, eye injuries, hearing loss, breathing problems, among others. Follow these tips to use your leaf blower safely.

• Read the product’s manual before you start using the leaf blower.
• Remove loose clothing and tie back long hair when operating.
• Wear noise-canceling earphones, especially when using the blower for longer periods of time.
• Use a dust mask to reduce the pollutants you might be inhaling.
• If you need to use an extension cord, make sure it’s an outdoor-rated one.
• Don’t use it while on a ladder or roof. In case you’ve to, make sure you’re safely tied off and have secure footing.
• Make sure the blower is completely shut off before you change attachments or clean it.

It’s also important to understand that the quality of power tools commonly used in lawn care varies drastically. While you don’t need to buy the best models, it’s always a good decision to buy high-quality tools. Such a tool not only works more efficiently but is less prone to cause damages as well. Ideally, you

should buy these tools from reputable brands to stay assured of the quality. And it’ll also be easier to get replacement parts if you need them.

Lawn Care Equipment – General Safety Tips

Here’re the safety tips you should follow when operating any kind of lawn care equipment.

• Since a huge number of lawn care injuries are caused by not being adequately protected, you should wear protective clothing including boots, gloves, etc when doing lawn maintenance work.
• You can also consider having a couple of special sets of clothes similar to uniforms that you’ll only wear during such work.
• When performing lawn care duties, you should never let kids or animals around you.
• Before you begin any kind of lawn work, it’s important to walk over the property and remove any unnecessary objects that may obstruct your work.
• If the lawn is near walkways or roadways, it’d be wise to wear reflective vests.
• Always keep all pesticide and fuel containers away from any heat source.
• When using chemicals, always stick to the recommended amount. The excess application may bring some negative impacts instead of doing any good.
• Never start gas-powered equipment in a garage or shed. The accumulated carbon monoxide can trigger extremely serious physical ailments.
• Exposed wires of any electric lawn care equipment are serious hazards. Replace damaged cords as soon as possible.
• If the lawn work you’re doing requires a ladder, make sure it’s firmly placed on a flat surface.
• Always lock any doors that might open towards the ladder.
• Store all your lawn care equipment in safe, enclosed areas after each use.
• Clean all the tools thoroughly after each use. If you find anything that’s damaged or needs to be replaced, be sure to complete the repair or replacement job before using it again.
• In case an injury occurs, stop whatever you’re doing immediately and treat it first. If you need professional help to treat the injury, either go to the emergency room or call 911 as soon as you can.

Closing Thoughts

Creating a lavish lawn and keeping it in excellent condition throughout the year is no easy task. While the above-mentioned lawn care tools can greatly help you in accomplishing this task, you also need to have adequate expertise to leverage their full potential. As we’ve mentioned earlier, severe injuries

from lawn care equipment aren’t uncommon. And a huge percentage of these typically happen due to improper handling and neglecting to follow adequate safety measures. While the safety measures we mentioned above will definitely help you avoid most of the injuries to a great extent, you should always

leave the job to experts.

At Kozeny’s Lawn Service, we’re committed to providing the best lawn care service in Mehlville, MO, Oakville, MO, Arnold, MO, and other areas in St. Louis along with low prices and outstanding customer service. If you want to know more about how you can make your lawn maintenance breeze, contact us

to talk to one of our experts and to get free lawn care and landscaping estimate.