5 Lawnmower Safety Tips to Protect Against Injury

How often do you mow your lawn? During the spring and summer, it's not uncommon for homeowners to mow their lawn once a week. When mowing your lawn, though, you'll need to follow some basic lawnmower safety tips to protect against injury. Statistics show over 20,000 people are injured each year in the United States from lawnmower accidents. Failure to take the necessary precautions could result in similar fate when mowing your lawn.

#1) Stay on Flat and Level Terrain

Only operate your lawnmower on flat and level terrain. Whether you have a push lawnmower, a self-propelled "walk behind" lawnmower or a riding lawnmower, using it on sloped terrain could result in serious or even fatal injury. The lawnmower could topple over, exposing the blade and, therefore, causing injury.

#2) Wear Impact-Resistant Glasses

It's also important to wear impact-resistant glasses when using a lawnmower. If you run over an object, such as a rock, the lawnmower's blade could propel the object towards your face. Without impact-resistant glasses, you run the risk of sustaining eye injury.

#3) Pick Up Yard Debris Before Mowing

Prior to mowing your lawn, go around your yard and pick up the debris. Rocks and branches are particularly problematic because they can project at high rates of speed when ran over by a lawnmower. Even if a rock or branch doesn't hit your eyes or face, it may still cause serious injury on other parts of your body. By picking yard debris beforehand, however, you'll minimize your risk of injury when mowing your lawn.

#4) Replace Dull Blades

When was the last time you changed your lawnmower's blade? Most people rarely or never change their lawnmower's blade. Rather, they continue using the same factory blade with which their lawnmower was manufactured. Although this sounds harmless, using a dull blade increases the risk of injury. If the blade isn't sharp, it may fail to create clean cuts, resulting in debris projecting towards your body.

#5) Only Mow Dry Grass

You might be surprised to learn than mowing wet grass, such as a lawn shortly after it has rained, can lead to injury. Lawnmowers aren't able to effectively cut through wet grass. When you run over wet grass with a lawnmower, the grass will clump up. And unless you stop to clean the clumped grass from your lawnmower, it will clog the blade. In some cases, this may cause the blade to break free from the lawnmower itself.