by Francis Jock

Created on: December 21, 2008   Last Updated: April 27, 2012

You may not consider yard work very dangerous, but it can be if you haven't taken precautions to stay safe. According to a Johns Hopkins University study, flying debris from powered equipment continues to be the most common cause of yard work injuries. All yard work injuries are preventable, and this article discusses four easy rules to stay safe in the yard.

When it comes to staying safe, you might consider your yard much like a regular work place; say a machine shop, with the appropriate safety rules and regulations. Staying safe in the work place, in this case your yard, means making sure that protective equipment is worn when required, operating equipment is maintained in good condition, and equipment safety features are intact and in place.

Understanding that your yard work place has many different types of hazards, you can see the need to stay safe. Like a machine shop, yard work place safety rules include wearing eye, hearing, and respiratory protection, and ultimately hand and foot protection. With this framework established, it's time to move on to the rules.

1. Always Wear Eye Protection. The first safety rule for staying safe in the yard concerns eye injuries. Yard work eye injuries can occur so quickly that you don't stand a chance to protect yourself. You just can't react quickly enough to deflect yourself from falling, blowing, flying, or deflected objects. Stay safe by wearing suitable eye protection.

2. Always Wear Hearing Protection when Operating Machinery. From mowers to blowers, gas powered devices make enough noise to damage your hearing over extended periods of time. Stay safe by reading the owner's manuals and always wear hearing protection whenever operating these devices.

3. Wear Protection When Working With Chemicals. Stay safe by wearing gloves and protection for your face, eyes, and respiratory system. When grooming the yard and garden, we are all guilty of using as pesticides, weed killers, and fertilizers. If not used with protection, chemicals can enter our body through the skin or respiratory system. Stay safe by mixing chemicals in a location with proper disposal equipment, and away from pets and children. Remember that many chemicals are hazardous to birds, amphibians, and beneficial insects, as well.

4. Wear Gloves and Foot Protection. Yard work safety means wearing gloves and protective footwear to stay safe. Protect your hands from unnecessary injury by wearing the right kind of gloves. There are many different types of gloves available to help you stay safe in the yard, each designed for a different type of task. Likewise, there are different forms of foot protection, each designed to protect the toes, the arch, or to provide traction, insulation (electrical, chemical, or thermal), or even to provide ankle support.

Finally, you can stay safe from other injuries in the yard, such as tripping and falling, by only using equipment (ladders, pressure washers, etc.) in the manner they were designed for.

Resource: http://www.jhu.edu/clips/2006_04/21/lawn.html

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