A nasty fall a few years ago reminded me gardening can be hazardous to one’s health. I fell as I was trying to dig out the roots of a dead shrub. The work was tedious and slow going, but I gradually removed all the roots except for one particularly stubborn one. I couldn’t dig it out, so I decided to try pulling it out. Bad idea! Tossing my gardening tools aside, I grasped the root with both hands and gave it a mighty tug. The root unexpectantly snapped and I fell backward, slamming my head against the hard ground. Luckily, I was only briefly stunned by the blow and mildly bruised but otherwise unharmed.
Then, I spotted the gardening tools I had carelessly tossed aside before I fell. To my shock, I realized I had fallen just a few inches from a tool that was lying on the ground with its sharp cutting edge pointed up! Had I hit my head on it when I fell, I could have been seriously injured or worse!
STAYING SAFE IN THE GARDEN
The near miss I experienced that day spurred me to consider the reasons most gardening accidents happen and how they can be prevented. Gardening is generally safe, but it does involve a lot of physical effort such as bending, kneeling, pulling, pushing, and reaching. Tasks such as weeding, raking, digging and lifting involve a lot of repetitive motions. Collectively, these movements can put gardeners at higher risk of injury than bird watching, star gazing or other activities of a more sedentary nature.
While older gardeners are strongly encouraged to be especially careful when working outdoors, accidents can happen to anyone. So, gardeners of all ages should be aware of and follow the safety guidelines described below.
PREEMPTIVE ACTIONS THAT KEEP YOU SAFE IN THE GARDEN
Good safety habits start before you even set foot in your garden. For example:
Warm up in advance. Doing a few stretching exercises before tackling your work can help prevent sore muscles or potential physical injury. This is particularly important if you are not in good physical condition and if your gardening tasks involve a lot of hard physical labor.
Wear appropriate gardening attire. Just as you need to use the right tools when working in the garden, you also need to wear the right clothing. Flip flops and shorts are not appropriate attire. Instead, wear sturdy, closed-toe non-skid shoes or boots, long pants, long sleeved shirts, and a wide-brimmed hat.
Apply sunscreen. Remember to apply sunscreen to protect against sunburn and skin cancer. Don’t forget your ears and the back of your neck.
Apply insect repellent. Apply insect repellent to protect against insect bites and ticks. As added extra precaution against tick bites, tuck your pant legs into your socks and then put on high boots.
Wear safety gear. Safety goggles can prevent a piece of dirt on a windy day, a flying insect, or flying plant debris from a mower or string trimmer from causing an eye injury. If you use plant stakes or other supports with sharp tips in your garden, make sure the tips are either covered with a safety cap of some sort or marked with colorful tape so that you can easily see them. Also, watch out for brittle flower stalks or tree and shrub branches that could jab you in the eye. Earplugs are essential for protecting your hearing while using a lawn mower, leaf blower, wood chipper or other loud equipment. If spraying chemicals of any kind, wear a mask to avoid inhaling fumes.
Wear gardening gloves. They protect your hands from bacteria or fungi in the soil that could cause inflammation or an infection, particularly if you have an open wound. Gloves can help protect against bee stings, insect bites, and skin irritation from contact with poison ivy or other poisonous plants. And very importantly, gardening gloves help protect your hands from cuts, abrasions, blisters and sun damage. While gloves with a rubberized coating are generally adequate for most gardening tasks, sturdy leather gloves offer better protection against puncture-type injuries caused by thorns, briars, nettles, and other sharp plant parts.
Carry your cell phone with you. A fall, heat stress, dehydration, dizziness or any number of other medical issues could pose a potential emergency, and having access to a phone could be life saving. Also, if you have a medical or physical limitation of any kind, it’s good to let someone know where you are, particularly if you are engaged in solitary gardening activities.
Keep a first aid kit handy. This is probably the last thing we think about when we’re in a hurry to start working in our gardens. But it’s the first thing that comes to mind when an accident occurs. For example, if you cut yourself, you need to clean the wound and apply a bandage to stop the bleeding and keep dirt and bacteria out of the wound. An untreated wound can easily become infected causing a more serious problem.
TIPS FOR STAYING SAFE WHILE GARDENING
Now that you’re warmed up, geared up, and ready to start work, here are some tips for making your gardening experience safe and enjoyable:
Stay alert to your surroundings. Be on the lookout for tripping hazards such as uneven ground, rocky terrain, exposed tree roots, fallen branches, or holes in the soil where animals have been digging. Are there children’s toys, tools and hoses lying about? Is there ice on a flagstone walkway or other slippery surface that might cause you to slip and fall? Is there a tree or shrub branch at eye level that could injure you if you accidentally walk into it? Are there power lines overhead that could interfere with pruning?
Make sure you know what’s underground before you dig. This is an important consideration for any digging you plan to do, but it’s particularly important when planting a shrub or tree that requires a deep planting hole. There could be buried water, sewer or other utility pipelines in the area where you plan to dig. If you live in the Albemarle County, Virginia area, contact the Albemarle County Service Authority (Miss Utility 811) in advance for their assistance in marking underground utility lines. Other obstacles you might encounter include large tree roots, rocks and even buried construction debris. So, dig slowly and carefully to avoid injury to yourself or damage to your tools.
Don’t reach into places where you can’t see. Always make sure you have a clear line of sight into the area where you are working. Lots of creatures share our gardens with us. A few that come to mind are bees, spiders, ticks, snakes and small mammals (like the five baby skunks I discovered under one of my shrubs a few years ago). And then there’s the possibility of encountering poison ivy, briars, nettles, or other plants that can irritate or injure your skin.
Avoid using repetitive motions without an occasional break. Bending or stooping for long periods of time can strain your back muscles. Prolonged digging, raking and weeding can irritate your hand and wrist joints. If you have arthritis, tendonitis, muscle strain or other debilitating medical condition, avoid repetitive motion or prolonged activities that can exacerbate the condition and cause pain and discomfort. A good rule of thumb is to switch activities that use a different set of muscles about every 15 minutes and take plenty of breaks.
Use the right tool. Reduce stress injuries to your body by using the right tool for the job at hand. For example, a common mistake is to try using hand pruners for a job better suited for loppers. A good rule of thumb is to use hand pruners to trim small branches or stems of less than an inch in diameter. Use loppers for anything thicker than that. Hand pruners can be used with one hand, whereas loppers have longer handles for increased leverage and require both hands to use. For gardeners with arthritis or other debilitating conditions, ergonomically designed gardening tools can make gardening more comfortable and less stressful on the body. Also consider battery-operated tools, which can significantly reduce the amount of time and energy needed for routine gardening tasks such as shearing or pruning.
Maintain tools to keep them in good working order. Emergency rooms treat more than 400,000 outdoor garden tool-related accidents each year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Avoid adding to that statistic by maintaining your tools according to manufacturer’s directions or commonly accepted maintenance guidelines. A tool that is dull or poorly maintained requires extra physical exertion leading to body fatigue and stress injuries to muscles, tendons and joints. A dull shovel, spade, axe or other tool used for chopping purposes can unexpectantly slip or bounce, contributing to an impact injury. Also, avoid carelessly tossing tools on the ground, especially tools with sharp or pointed edges such as rakes, hoes, weeders, and gardening shears that could cause serious injury if stepped or fallen on.
Work during the cooler parts of the day or work in the shade if possible. Dizziness, dehydration, heat stress, heat stroke, or other weather-related medical issues can occur while gardening in hot weather. It also often benefits your plants to tend to them in the cooler parts of the day – early morning or early evening. Stay hydrated. Even if you don’t feel thirsty, it’s important to drink plenty of water before, during, and after you garden to keep from becoming dehydrated.
Lift heavy objects the right way. A great many injuries can be avoided if we remember to keep our backs straight, bend our knees and lift using our legs. Carry heavy objects such as bags of mulch close to your body. Holding them away from your body puts unnecessary strain on your muscles and tendons. If something seems too heavy to lift, don’t struggle to lift it anyway. Get someone to help you.
Avoid constantly bending over. Some gardeners put unnecessary strain on their back muscles and spines from prolonged bending. If you suffer from back pain of any kind, avoid bending if the task can be performed another way. When weeding, for example, kneel or even sit on the ground as you work. Use kneeling pads to protect your knees. Alternatively, consider gardening in raised beds. Depending on the design of the raised bed frame, some may have a ledge allowing you to sit while you work. Other, taller raised beds are designed to allow the gardener to stand while gardening.
Handle chemicals responsibly. When using pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers, weed and brush killers, gardeners need to protect themselves as well as family members, pets, other animals, and the environment. Before using the chemical, it’s important to read and adhere to the instructions for their use, any safety hazards they may pose, and best practices for their disposal. They should always be safely stored in their original containers.
FEATURED PHOTO: Safety hazard caused by gardening tools left on ground. Photo: Pat Chadwick
SOURCES:
Hand Tools Safety: Lawn Care Training Guide, Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication BSE-51P.
Safety Tips for Your Farm and Garden, North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension
Tips to Help Avoid Gardening Injuries, Oklahoma State University