Lawn Mower Safety Can Prevent
Amputations Or Cuts From Rotating Blades.

Why is Lawn Mower Safety something you can't get too complacent about?

Because lawn mowers rate top of the list of most dangerous garden tools. Pruners and secateurs are 3rd most dangerous, electric hedge-trimmers 5th, and the humble garden hose comes in 9th.

247,000 Americans were treated for lawn mower related injuries in 2009. Of these 18,000 were children under 19 years of age (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission).

While the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents predicted 300,000 people would be injured in British gardens in 2009, of which a third would be children.

Lawn Mower accidents...
Photos courtesy American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Lawn Mower studies revealed lawn mower injuries account for 22 percent of homeyard equipment injuries (Monash University Accident Research Centre).

Most Common Lawn Mower Accidents...

• Cuts and amputations from rotating mower blades. Flimsy footwear is a no-no; sturdy (even steel-capped) boots are best. Always push the mower in front of you, never back onto yourself. Mow across slopes with a walk-behind mower, never up or down. Ideally you should wear eye protection as well.
  
  
• Ride-on mower tip-overs cause hundreds of deaths each year. Some riders are crushed; others are chopped up or pinned underneath over-turned mowers, some drowning in creeks or golf water hazards. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated over 800 young children are run or backed over each year.
  
  
• Rocks, nails or sticks can fly off a mower blade at the speed of a bullet damaging property and humans. A flying mower blade struck a woman in the head recently killing her instantly. Keep young children away from mowers and the mowing area.
  
  
• Electrocution or electric shock caused by running over the power cable (especially in wet conditions) or using frayed or faulty cables. A Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter can be a life saver.
  
  
• Fires and burns caused by spilling fuel onto hot engines or by touching hot mufflers. Re-fuelling should never be carried out indoors nor smoking allowed around flammable, volatile liquids.
  
  
• Back/shoulder injuries from pulling on a starter cable on a mower that won't start, or lifting heavy machinery.
  
  
• Hearing loss caused by noisy machinery.
  
  
• Eye trauma caused by not wearing safety goggles or glasses.

Lawn Mower accidents...courtesy American Society of Plastic Surgeons.