Safety Tips To Prevent Lawn Mower Accidents This Summer

Back when I first started managing restaurants, I got together with one of my fellow managers over a slice of pizza and discussed how we might make a few extra bucks in addition to our salaries. It would have to be something that paid cash and could be accomplished on one of our days off. Jim was just starting a family and wanted one day off a week to spend with them at least. After checking some options, we decided to go into the lawn care business. Jim's father was a professional landscaper and could help us out with the equipment, and we both had cut grass as kids. It directed out to be a pretty productive part-time business as we had 15 restaurants to cut the chain we worked for right away. The only problem was when the weather got in the way of our schedule.

What should you notice of prevent accidents from lawn mower?

Since we had only one day to get everything done, and being young and foolhardy, we often threw caution to the wind. We cut the grass no matter if it was pouring down rain, in the middle of a thunderstorm, or in 100-degree heat. One time we even cut the stuff when there was snow on the ground. We were extremely lucky to make it through 6 years without either one of us seriously hurting ourselves. There were some near misses, however. One time Jim fell "the hill" (a really steep incline at the back of one of the stores) and found his running mower coming down the hill right at his leg. Luckily, he could get out of the way in time. And once my mower hit a rock and almost killed a woman sitting in a car across the lot. (A lawn mower can eject a rock at over 100 miles per hour.) The projectile shattered the window of her car and only missed her by inches.

Summer is here again, and it's time for injuries associated with lawn mowing to increase. According to CNN, some 100,000 people suffered lawn mower injuries in 2006. According to the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, most injuries occur in the 25-64 age groups and to those under 5 years old. Most of these accidents are preventable. Here are a few common sense and safety tips that can help you keep all of your fingers and toes this summer:

The best thing to remember is to wear protective clothing. That means sturdy shoes, preferably steel toed that are non-slip. Most amputations occur when the grass is wet or when the mower overturns. Always wear protective goggles. That 100 miles an hour rock hitting you in the eye would pretty much guarantee you to lose it. When mowing on a hill, always mow side to side, never up and down. You can lose control of the mower, and it can fall back on you. Don't try to refill the mower with gasoline when it is running or still hot as the gas vapors can ignite. Don't dismantle the safety devices on the machine. (We were bad at doing this.) And finally, keep hands and fingers away from the mower while it is running. Never, ever, try to free an obstructed blade before the mower is turned off and the spark plug disconnected. See more at: http://nicolaskoenig.weebly.com