Purdue Extension Service

Vanderburgh County, Indiana

Safety should come first when lawn mowing

By Larry Caplan, Extension Horticulture Educator, Vanderburgh County, IN

For the Evansville Courier and Press, May 10, 2009

An alert reader sent me a photo of one of my pet peeves: one of his neighbors was mowing the lawn with a child on his lap.

Many of you may be wondering why that's such a big deal. Go to your computer and search for "lawn mower accidents" — but don't do it on a full stomach.

There is a tendency to view lawn mowing as being less hazardous than is the case. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 60,000 injuries are treated by hospital emergency rooms each year because of unsafe operation of power lawn mowers. More than 10,000 of those injuries involve children.

Each year, it is not uncommon to read about an individual's foot getting caught underneath a walk-behind mower. Or about the person whose eye got hit by an object thrown by a mower. Or the child that was backed over by a riding lawn mower. Increasingly, there seem to be more instances of the larger riding lawn tractors overturning and pinning the operator. People who aren't killed outright by the mower often suffer amputation of hands and feet.

Here are some tips to keep you and your loved ones safe while mowing:

•  Read and follow all instructions in your mower's owner manual.
•  Keep all safety devices, switches, guards and shields in place and working.
•  Wear proper safety equipment: hard leather shoes with good traction and eye and ear protection.
•  Clean the yard of all debris before mowing. Rocks, toys and tools can become deadly projectiles.
•  Keep children, pets and other bystanders out of the mowing area — preferably indoors. Kids and pets are notoriously unpredictable and can suddenly appear behind or alongside you.
•  When mowing on a slope, go ACROSS the slope with a walk-behind mower and UP AND DOWN the slope if you're using a riding mower. This protects you from slips and overturns.
•  Mow only when the lawn is dry. Wet grass is slippery, especially on slopes.
•  Always shut off the mower before reaching under the mower deck to unclog it.
•  Always shut the engine off and allow it to cool before refueling.
•  NEVER carry passengers while mowing. Children and pets can wiggle out of your arms unexpectedly and fall into the path of the mower blades. Children who have been given rides in the past may suddenly appear in the mowing area for another ride and be run over or backed over by the machine.
•  Never use an electric mower in the rain.
•  Know where the cord is, and mow away from it.

Lawn mowing is a tedious chore; no matter how much we mow today, we'll have to do it all over again next week.

To learn more about keeping this chore from becoming dangerous, contact the Purdue Extension Service at (812) 435-5287.