The lawn mower safety tips below are for walk-behind mowers. But a couple of tips first about riding mowers, which present their own unique safety challenges:
- Riding mowers are unstable on steep inclines. So unlike with walk-behind mowers, with which you cut across an incline, with riding mowers you mow up and down slope.
- Treat the operation of a riding mower as seriously as you would the operation of an automobile. Consequently, no kids (not even as passengers) allowed!
Lawn Mower Safety Tips for Walk-Behind Mowers
What makes lawn mower safety for walk-behind mowers less challenging than it used to be is the fact that most machines now possess an important lawn mower safety feature: a lever or control bar mounted on the handle. This safety feature can work in either of two ways. On cheaper models, releasing the lever or control bar brings both the engine and the cutting blade to a stop. More expensive models provide greater convenience: only the blade stops, so you don't have to bother starting up the engine again when you're ready to continue.
Lawn Mowers Safety Tips: What to Wear
- Earplugs
- Goggles
- Footwear with good traction
- Tight-fitting clothing (long pants, a long-sleeve shirt)
Lawn Mowers Safety Tips: Operating Walk-Behind Mowers
- Check the lawn first for objects that shouldn't be there: bottles, stones, etc. Exercise similar caution when using lawn edgers. Propelled objects cause many lawn mower-related injuries.
- Check that lawn mower guards and shields are functional.
- Set wheel height prior to starting the engine.
- If you're using a bag attachment, turn the lawn mower off prior to removing or re-attaching the bag. Better yet, when using mulching mowers, there's really no need to use a bag at all.
- In summer, mow in the evening for the sake of your grass but, for your own sake, early enough that there's still plenty of light by which to see.
- As mentioned on Page 2 in connection with string trimmers, mow only when the grass is dry, to reduce risk of injury through slipping.
- Very steep slopes are dangerous to mow. Consider an alternative to grass in these cases, such as growing ground covers like Blue Rug juniper.
- If you're truly concerned about lawn mower safety, the best lawn mowers to use are reel mowers, because they're human-powered. But reel mowers may not be a viable option for those with large yards.
- More Home Safety Tips:
