You can avoid injury in your garden by taking the following precautions:
- Be sure you know how to operate the equipment. Know where the controls are and what they do. Don’t remove or disable guards or other safety devices.
- Dress appropriately for the job. This includes: sturdy shoes with slip-resistant rubber soles, long pants and long-sleeved shirts, close-fitting clothes, eye protection, heavy gloves, hearing protection when needed, and no jewelry, which can get caught in moving parts.
- Before starting, walk around the area in which you will be working to remove any objects like sticks, glass, metal, wire and stones that could cause injury or damage equipment.
- Never take a child for a ride on a garden tractor or riding mower.
The bottom line is the best way to avoid finger amputations and other injuries is to keep your wits about you when working with machinery, knives or any appliance with moving or sharp parts while in your garden.
If you become bored or too at ease while using a potentially dangerous piece of equipment, such as a lawn mower or power tool, you are likely to be less careful, and that’s when accidents tend to happen. Staying alert and taking your time when using machinery are the best ways to keep your fingers, hands and limbs safe and preventing injuries to yourself and others.
