{"id":1486,"date":"2018-04-22T18:11:39","date_gmt":"2018-04-22T18:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/?p=1486"},"modified":"2022-09-14T09:30:34","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T09:30:34","slug":"keep-your-lawn-care-employees-safe-on-the-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/keep-your-lawn-care-employees-safe-on-the-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep Your Lawn Care Employees Safe on the Job"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">It\u2019s that time of year when lawn care companies ramp up their activities.\u00a0 It is also the time when these companies hire a number of new employees who may, or may not, be well versed in the necessary safety practices when on the job.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Landscaping and lawn care workers are at risk of injury from a wide variety of potential hazards.\u00a0 These include exposure to chemicals, machinery, noise and weather related hazards.\u00a0 Now would be a good time to pull your employees together around the \u201ctoolbox\u201d and review your safety procedures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Lawn Mower Safety<br \/>\n<\/strong>With so much grass to cut there are times those operating lawn mowers and other lawn care equipment get in a hurry.\u00a0 This is often when accidents occur.\u00a0 Every year thousands of people are treated for lawn mower-related injuries including those who cut lawns for a living.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Some of the key safety tips to follow are \u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Check the property prior to mowing. Remove any debris and obstructions including toys, limbs, rocks, wire, or glass.\u00a0 Locate all sprinkler heads, exposed electrical wire or cords, tree stumps, or exposed roots and pipes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Make sure all children, co-workers and bystanders are not in the area that is being mowed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Wear proper protection against flying debris and noise (long pants, hard shoes, safety glasses, and ear plugs)<\/span><\/li>\n<li>You may also consider adding safety railing or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maddenindustries.com\/product-lines\/aluminum-deck-railing\/\"><span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Aluminum Deck Railing Kits&quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:4226,&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:11982760},&quot;10&quot;:2,&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Arial&quot;}\">Aluminum Deck Railing Kits<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Trimmers, Edgers and Blowers<br \/>\n<\/strong>Many powered hand tools such as string trimmers, lawn edgers, hedge trimmers, and leaf blowers are widely used in lawn care. While these devices are very useful in making jobs easier and more efficient, they can be dangerous if used without proper training and care.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Here are some safety tips related to these products.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Remove debris such as glass, limbs, rocks, and trash that could possibly become a projectile before trimming.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Watch out for exposed electrical wires, communication lines, and extension cords that could be damaged by the trimmer string or edger blade.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Don\u2019t remove protective guards and string guides.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Using Lawn Chemicals<br \/>\n<\/strong>Lawn care employees will inevitably be asked about the safety and environmental impact of fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides that are applied to their property. It is essential to train your field staff and office employees in exactly how to respond to those questions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">It is beneficial to provide a printed handout that staff can hand out and office staff can send via email. Commercially available chemicals are registered or licensed by the EPA and most state\u2019s environmental protection departments. Each licensed\/registered product has been thoroughly evaluated to ensure it is effective and poses minimal risk to families, pets and the environment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Additional precautions include \u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Make sure there are no children and animals in or near the application area.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Avoid exposure to skin, eyes and nose during and after application.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Use only the recommended amount; more chemical than prescribed will not do a better job.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Accidents Affect Your Insurance Rate<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">It comes as no surprise that the more injuries your workforce has, and their severity, impact your Workers\u2019 Comp and liability insurance rates.\u00a0 Every year more than 80,000 people go to the emergency room because of lawn mower and other lawn care related injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1255\" style=\"width: 159px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Vince-headshot.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1255\" class=\"wp-image-1255\" src=\"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Vince-headshot-294x300.jpg\" alt=\"Vince Shissler\" width=\"149\" height=\"152\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Vince-headshot-294x300.jpg 294w, https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Vince-headshot.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 149px) 100vw, 149px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1255\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Vince Shissler<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Take a minute to reemphasize the importance of safety on the job and keep your employees and your business healthy.\u00a0 A more detailed safety list can be found at <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Lawncare-Safety-Tips-final.pdf\">Lawn Care Safety Tips<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>The Mitchell Agency<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">If you need to review your present insurance because of changes in employee headcount, job duties, and current coverage, please give me, Vince Shissler, a call at <strong>765-742-1135<\/strong>, or email me at <a href=\"mailto:vjs@mitchellagy.com\">vjs@mitchellagy.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s that time of year when lawn care companies ramp up their activities.\u00a0 It is also the time when these companies hire a number of new employees who may, or may not, be well versed in the necessary safety practices when on the job. Landscaping and lawn care workers are at risk of injury from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1486"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2346,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486\/revisions\/2346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellagy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}