Survey: 2024 Home Lawn Care Accidents

What are your three best personal safety tips to practice while maintaining landscaping, gardens, and outdoor spaces?

1. Protect yourself from the sun by utilizing sunscreen, sun hats, and long-sleeved shirts and pants.

2. Gloves are essential when maintaining landscapes to prevent any chemicals from being absorbed through your skin and to prevent insect contact with your skin or abrasions or splinters.

3. Proper footwear such as closed-toed shoes or boots and long socks will also protect you from weed whacker strings, blades, flying debris, insects, dirt, and other hazards.

What lawn mowing equipment is safest to use? Which is the most dangerous?

Most lawn equipment intended for homeowners is safe as long as care and common sense are used when operating the machinery. Machinery should be regularly inspected and maintained following manufacturer instructions to ensure that blades are secured tightly, proper fluids are within the machine, and other considerations.

Common sense would dictate that other distractions should not be a part of operating lawn equipment, like headphones at a high volume, utilizing cell phones, drinking or eating or other distractions.

All senses should be focused on ensuring nothing goes wrong with the machine or there are no obstacles to run over, particularly if there are children in the area.

What are three of the most common injuries related to lawn care and landscaping?

Not sure, but I would assume that the injuries like cuts or sunburn would be due to not following the above suggestions for safety.

What protective equipment is most necessary for doing outdoor work?

Wear protective equipment such as:

• Gloves
• Sunhats
• Sunscreen
• Closed-toed shoes and socks
• Respiratory masks when appropriate.

While certain lawn and garden chemicals may not be particularly hazardous to human health, there is always a chance and there is no real need for those chemicals in your lungs.

What are your three best personal safety tips to practice while maintaining landscaping, gardens, and outdoor spaces?

• Regarding safety for homeowners with rotary mowers, be sure to disconnect the spark plug wire when any handwork is required under the deck of the mower.

• Also, be sure to wear ear and eye protection when using power equipment in the landscape (hedge clippers, rotary mowers, edging equipment, string trimmers, etc.).

Note: It is important to note that it is very important to get unbiased research-based information wherever possible. A great place to start is your local County Extension Office. They often can provide you with local information to help you stay safe and garden smart.

The Florida-Friendly Landscaping (FFL) Program is part of the University of Florida/IFAS Extension program and strives to teach people how to design and maintain landscapes while protecting our water and natural resources.

You can learn more about the FFL program at www.FloridaFriendlyLandscaping.com.

What are your three best personal safety tips to practice while maintaining landscaping, gardens, and outdoor spaces?

• Stay hydrated and take advantage of the cooler times of the day to get your yard work completed.
• Protect yourself from the sun by using sunscreen, hats, and protective clothing.
• Use quality tools to reduce fatigue and make gardening easier.

What lawn mowing equipment is safest to use? Which is the most dangerous?

Power tools in general can be dangerous, so always use caution with lawn mowers and other equipment.

• Be sure to maintain any equipment regularly.
• Pick up rocks, sticks, and any other debris prior to mowing.
• Wait for the grass to dry before mowing.
• Wear appropriate shoes and clothing to protect you while mowing and working in the yard.

What are three of the most common injuries related to lawn care and landscaping?

I would think that the three most common injuries related to maintaining a landscape or garden would be:

• Heat exhaustion or dehydration.
• Muscle fatigue.
• Excess exposure to the sun.

What protective equipment is most necessary for doing outdoor work?

• Protective equipment should start with clothing to protect you from the sun.
  • Gloves, eye protection, and sturdy shoes will help you stay safe as you work.
• Purchase quality tools that will last and will make the work easier.
• During the hot times of the year, take advantage of the cooler hours of the day to get much of the work accomplished.
• Be sure to stay hydrated as you work.