Yard Work Safety

Mower safety

A mower blade spins fast enough to cut through a foot or throw a stone like a bullet. Nearly every serious mower injury comes from one of a short list of mistakes, so a few habits go a long way.

1. Clear the lawn first. Walk the lawn and pick up sticks, rocks, dog toys, pine cones and anything else the blade could throw.
2. Keep kids and pets indoors or well away. Not just off the lawn: inside, or far enough that thrown debris can’t reach them.
3. Dress for it. Sturdy closed shoes or boots with good grip, long pants, and safety glasses. Never mow in sandals or bare feet.
4. Never reach under the deck or into the discharge chute while the engine is running. Not even with a stick. Stop the engine and wait for the blade to stop completely.
5. Disable the mower before clearing a clog or touching the blade. On a gas mower, pull the spark plug wire off the plug. On a battery mower, remove the battery. On a corded mower, unplug it. A blade can kick the engine over when turned by hand.
6. Mow slopes the safe way. With a walk-behind mower, go across a slope so you can’t slip under the mower or have it roll back onto you. With a riding mower, follow the maker’s instructions; most say to go up and down, and to avoid steep slopes entirely.
7. Never pull a walk-behind mower backwards unless you have to, and look behind you first.
8. Refuel only a cool engine, outdoors. Let the engine cool for several minutes first, use a funnel, wipe up spills, and start the mower away from where you filled it.

Children and mowers

Children are hurt by mowers in a few predictable ways: falling off a riding mower while riding along with an adult, being backed over by a riding mower whose driver didn’t see them, being hit by thrown debris, and touching a hot engine. The Canada Safety Council, drawing on Canadian hospital injury data, reported that most mower injuries in babies under one year old were burns from touching a hot engine or muffler.

The Canada Safety Council recommends:

• Keep young children out of the yard while it’s being mowed.
• Never let anyone, of any age, ride as a passenger on a riding mower.
• Children under 12 should not use walk-behind mowers.
• Children under 16 should not use riding mowers.

Teens who are old enough to start mowing should learn one-on-one: show them the controls, how to stop the blade, how to clear the lawn first, and supervise until you’re confident they do it right every time.

Trimmers, edgers and blowers

String trimmers and edgers throw grit, stones and bits of line at high speed, sometimes sideways or back toward you. Leaf blowers send dust and gravel flying.

• Eye protection every time. Safety glasses with side shields at a minimum; a face shield over them is better for heavy trimming.
• Long pants and sturdy shoes. Trimmer debris stings bare legs and can cut.
• Keep people and pets at least 15 m away while trimming or blowing, and stop if someone walks up.
• Watch what’s in front of you. Trim with care near windows, cars, siding and young tree trunks. Line can strip the bark off a young tree all the way around and kill it; a mulch ring around the trunk means you don’t need to trim there at all.
• Stop the engine or unplug the tool before changing line, clearing tangles or fitting a blade.

Hearing, eyes and hands

Hearing

Hearing damage from noise is gradual, painless and permanent. Workplace safety agencies in Canada say hearing loss can result from long exposure to sound at or above 85 decibels (dBA), and that the louder the sound, the shorter the safe time. A Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission guide lists lawn mowers at about 80 to 95 dBA and leaf blowers at up to 115 dBA.

• Wear earplugs or earmuffs whenever you run a gas mower, trimmer, blower, chainsaw or snowblower.
• A good rule of thumb: if you have to raise your voice to talk to someone an arm’s length away, it’s loud enough to need protection.
• Ringing in the ears after yard work is a warning sign that the noise was too much.

Eyes

Wear safety glasses for mowing, trimming, blowing, pruning (twigs snap back), cutting, sharpening and any work overhead, such as cleaning eavestroughs.

Hands

Good work gloves prevent blisters, splinters and cuts, and protect against thorns and the occasional hidden piece of glass in a flowerbed. Keep a pair of warm, waterproof gloves for snow work.

Electrical safety outdoors

• Use outdoor-rated extension cords, heavy enough for the tool, and check them for cuts or crushed spots before each use. Cords used outdoors take a beating from sun, cold and tools.
• Plug into a GFCI outlet. A ground fault circuit interrupter cuts the power in a fraction of a second if current leaks to ground, such as through a wet hand. Outdoor outlets should have one. Press the “test” button now and then to make sure it trips.
• Keep cords behind you and out of the path of the mower or trimmer. Drape the cord over your shoulder or use a cord holder.
• Keep electric tools and connections out of water. Don’t use corded tools on wet grass or in the rain, and keep plug connections off the ground.
• Unplug before adjusting or cleaning.

Ladders and power lines

Cleaning eavestroughs and pruning are the two yard jobs that put most of us on a ladder, and falls from ladders can be serious even from modest heights.

1. Set the ladder on firm, level ground. Soft lawn, wet clay and ice are all poor footing. Use a board under the feet on soft ground.
2. Use the right angle. For an extension ladder, the base should be about 1 m out from the wall for every 4 m of height up to where it rests.
3. Keep three points of contact: two hands and a foot, or two feet and a hand, at all times.
4. Don’t overreach. Keep your belt buckle between the rails. Climb down and move the ladder instead.
5. Don’t work on a ladder in the wind. In Lethbridge, that rules out a lot of days; pick a calm morning.
6. Have someone with you to steady the ladder and call for help if needed.

Lifting, digging and shovelling

Look after your back

• Warm up with a few minutes of walking and gentle stretching before heavy work.
• Lift with your legs, keep the load close to your body, and turn your feet instead of twisting your back.
• Fill bags and pails only partly. A half-full bag of soil or a half-full wheelbarrow is easier to control.
• Switch tasks and hands often, and take breaks.

Snow shovelling and your heart

Shovelling heavy snow is hard work: cold air, heavy lifting and straining all at once. Heart and Stroke Foundation advice for shovelling includes:

• Shovel early, while snow is fresh and lighter, rather than letting it pile up and pack down.
• Warm up first with some light movement.
• Pace yourself and pause when it gets too much. Push snow rather than lift it where you can, and take small loads.
• Ask for help, and if you’re younger and fit, offer to help a neighbour.
• Know the warning signs of a heart attack: chest pain or discomfort, pressure, squeezing or burning; sweating; discomfort in the upper body; nausea; shortness of breath. Women may also feel lower chest or abdominal pressure, dizziness or extreme fatigue.

Heat, sun and smoke

Strong sun

At about 910 m above sea level, with clear, dry air and around 2,500 hours of sunshine a year, Lethbridge gets a lot of strong sun. Environment and Climate Change Canada notes that UV is strongest from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and that across Canada the UV index can reach 3 or higher during those hours from April to September, even when it’s cloudy. At 3 and above, cover up, wear a hat and sunglasses, use sunscreen, and look for shade at midday.

Heat illness

Our hot, dry wind can dry you out faster than you notice, because sweat evaporates almost as fast as it forms. Health Canada lists these signs of heat exhaustion: high body temperature, dizziness or fainting, nausea or vomiting, heavy sweating, headache, fast breathing and heartbeat, extreme thirst, muscle cramps, rash, confusion, and dark urine with less of it. Move somewhere cool and drink water right away.

• Do heavy jobs early in the morning or in the evening.
• Drink water before you’re thirsty, and take breaks in the shade.
• Wear a wide-brimmed hat and light, loose clothing.
• Check on older neighbours who do their own yard work in a heat wave.

Wildfire smoke days

Smoke from wildfires in BC, Alberta and the US often drifts over southern Alberta in summer. Check the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) before heavy outdoor work. Environment and Climate Change Canada’s guidance:

Cold and wind chill

Shovelling makes you sweat, and our wind turns a cold morning into a dangerous one quickly. Environment and Climate Change Canada’s wind chill guidance:

In winds over 50 km/h, which are not unusual here, frostbite can happen faster than those times.

• Dress in layers you can open as you warm up, so you don’t soak your clothes with sweat.
• Cover your face, ears and hands, and wear warm, waterproof boots with good grip.
• Check your face, ears and fingers for numbness or whiteness, the first signs of frostbite. Go inside and warm up gently; don’t rub the skin.
• Take breaks indoors on very cold days, and shovel in shorter sessions.

Fuel and chemical storage

• Store gasoline only in a container made and labelled for gasoline, with the cap closed tightly. Never use a pop bottle, jug or other makeshift container.
• Keep fuel out of the house. Store it in a detached shed or garage, away from furnaces, water heaters, pilot lights and anything that sparks, and out of children’s reach.
• Fill containers on the ground, not in a truck box or car trunk, so static can’t build up and spark.
• Keep only what you need for a season or two, and add fuel stabilizer to gas that will sit over winter.
• Store oil, fertilizer, ice melt and other products in their original labelled containers, closed, on a high shelf or locked cupboard.
• Take old fuel and leftover household chemicals to a proper household hazardous waste drop-off. Never pour them on the ground or down a drain. Check lethbridge.ca or call 311 for where and when.

Click Before You Dig

Gas, power, phone, internet and cable lines run under most Lethbridge yards, and some are only a few centimetres deep. Hitting one can mean an injury, an explosion, an outage for the whole street, and the repair bill.

1. Request a free locate through Utility Safety Partners at utilitysafety.ca. You can also phone them; the number is on their site.
2. Give at least three full working days’ notice before you start. Weekends and holidays don’t count.
3. Wait for the marks. Utility owners mark their lines with paint or flags. The marks show where a line runs, not how deep it is.
4. Hand dig near the marks. Within 1 m on either side of a mark (5 m for high-pressure pipelines), carefully expose the line with hand tools to find its exact location and depth.
5. Find your private lines too. Utilities don’t locate customer-owned lines such as sprinkler pipes, power or gas to a garage or shed, or water and sewer service lines. Hire a private locator for those.

Any digging counts: planting a tree, setting fence posts, building a deck, installing a sprinkler system or edging a new bed.

Wasps and rattlesnakes

Wasps

Late summer is wasp season. Nests turn up in sheds, under deck boards, in fence posts and in the ground.

• Look before you reach into a shrub, an old pot or a gap under a deck, and before you mow over a busy spot.
• If you disturb a nest, walk away calmly and quickly; don’t swat.
• If a nest isn’t in the way, leave it alone; the colony dies off after the first hard frosts. If it is by a door, path or play area, keep children and pets well away and have it dealt with after dark, when wasps are inside and less active, by someone who has never reacted badly to a sting.

Prairie rattlesnakes

Prairie rattlesnakes are part of Lethbridge’s river valley. According to the City of Lethbridge, they live on dry coulee slopes, in the cottonwood forests and on the river floodplain, and they occasionally turn up in yards near the coulees. They are active roughly from April to September, depending on the weather. Rattlesnakes are not aggressive and would rather retreat than strike.

• If you see one, stop, stay calm and find where the snake is. Then back away slowly and give it plenty of room. There may be more than one nearby.
• Don’t try to move, harass or kill it. Under Alberta’s Wildlife Act, that’s illegal.
• If a rattlesnake is in your yard or another urban area, keep people and pets well back and use the City’s rattlesnake relocation line, listed on the Rattlesnake Mitigation page at lethbridge.ca (relocations run April to December). To report a sighting or learn more, contact the Helen Schuler Nature Centre.
• In yards backing onto the coulees, wear long pants and sturdy footwear, keep dogs on a leash, and check woodpiles and tall grass before reaching in.

Cuts, scrapes and tetanus

Thorns, pruners, rusty wire and broken glass in the garden soil all cause small wounds. Clean any cut well with soap and running water and cover it. Get medical help for deep cuts, puncture wounds, cuts that won’t stop bleeding, and signs of infection such as spreading redness, warmth or pus. Our first aid page covers the basics.

Sources

• Canada Safety Council, “Don’t Get Mowed Down: How to Avoid Lawn Mower Injuries” (child age recommendations; Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program data).
• Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (NWT and Nunavut), “How Loud Is It?” (decibel levels for lawn mowers and leaf blowers; 85 dBA hearing risk).
• Heart and Stroke Foundation, snow shovelling and heart attack warning signs.
• Health Canada, Fact Sheet: Staying Healthy in the Heat (heat exhaustion and heat stroke signs).
• Environment and Climate Change Canada, About the Air Quality Health Index (risk categories and health messages).
• Environment and Climate Change Canada, Wind Chill and the Wind Chill Index (frostbite times).
• Environment and Climate Change Canada, UV Index card (UV categories and peak hours).
• Utility Safety Partners, Click Before You Dig: Homeowner Overview.
• City of Lethbridge, Rattlesnake Mitigation; City of Lethbridge Nature (Helen Schuler Nature Centre), Prairie Rattlesnake tip sheet.
• Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian Immunization Guide, Tetanus toxoid.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, Lethbridge Airport (sunshine, elevation).