Lawn Mower Safety - How to Avoid an Accident

Breaking News

Breaking news right now a man is fighting for his life after a landscaping accident. The man had to be pulled from a pond after his mower tipped over into a pond with a rider on it. Stan: An incredible amount of people are injured or killed every year in lawnmower related accidents but let's find out how many accidents there are we're going to talk to somebody a whole lot smarter than me. Hello McFly, you're up. Three two one! Reporter: He rolled over an embankment into a creek and then that riding lawn mower he was on, fell on top of him. Stan: The sad truth is a lot of these accidents can be prevented. We're going to cover three simple steps to keep you safe. But before we get into that, how many accidents are there actually every year. Relax, calm, down breathe through your nose, not your mouth.

Accidents Happen

Stanley: Oh! Well, thank you Mr. Monkey, but you can actually call me Stanley. First off Mr. Monkey, I just want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to address your audience. Yes, now as you can tell from the attached news clip, lawnmowers can be extremely dangerous and should not be taken lightly. Now, I have extensively studied lawn mower accidents and statistics, and I provided you with some valuable information; I am attempting to raise awareness on the dangers to the lawn mowing community. And I have come up with three simple steps that may be able to help save a life. Stan: How many work-related deaths are there every year? Stanley: On average, Mr. Monkey, there are over three hundred forty-five work-related fatalities every year. Stan: How many lawn mower accidents are there every year? Stanley: That is a great question, Mr. Monkey, there are over 80,000 residential and commercial accidents that lead to hospitalization on a yearly basis.

Getting too Comfortable

Stan: The sad truth is a lot of these accidents don't happen the very first time your guys go out on a job site. It happens the fifth time or the tenth time, or after a year or two or three, because they get too comfortable with the conditions and they learn to push it. You see a lot of times the first time they hop on that mower they're afraid of it and their fear keeps them alive. We're going to cover three simple steps: Number one, rollover protection. Our R.O.P.S. Stanley: Rollover protection systems are absolutely amazing. They are over ninety-nine percent effective when used properly with the seat belt in preventing injuries. Stan: Yes, number two is training. Training your people to keep them safe. Let's show you some simple techniques you can use on your own job sites to make sure that you don't have any of these accidents.

Proper Training

Stanley: Proper training is absolutely a critical element to keep your crew safe, but with all due respect Mr. Monkey, I don't think you should be the spokesperson for this. I've seen how you operate equipment let's just someone that may be a little more serious on this subject take over. Now as you can clearly see here Mr. Monkey, our friend Mario from Mario’s Landscaping is backing his tractor down this slope. He's putting all of the weight on his rear wheels; this will help him avoid a possible slide-out. Now when it comes time to go up a slope, Mr. Mario drives his tractor straight up the embankment but when it comes time to go down the slope he carefully and cautiously backs his tractor down, making sure to keep the weight on the rear wheels, where his traction can be optimized.

Proper Equipment

Stan: Number three is proper equipment. The unfortunate truth is you as the employer are responsible for providing the proper safety equipment on a job to meet any of the conditions that your employees may face out in the field. Stanley: Yes, outfitting your crews with the proper equipment in the first place is an absolutely critical first step to ensure your safety. Ventrak taken this even a step further. They've lowered the center of gravity on your tractors, they doubled to wheelbases in some cases and they've created articulated units. This helps prevent accidents from occurring; if an accident doesn't occur, then an injury can't happen. Up time is a good time in my book. Stan: I don't know what to say about that. Now we've had a little bit of fun with this video. But lawnmower safety is absolutely no joke. Now it's your turn. Share this video with the lawn mowing community, maybe keep one person from getting hurt and please share with us some of your own safety tips in the comments below.