Purdue Extension Service

Vanderburgh County, Indiana

Garden Safety is No Laughing Matter

By Larry Caplan, Extension Horticulture Educator, Vanderburgh County, IN

For the Evansville Courier and Press, March 13, 2005

As I write this week's article, I've just finished the last of three pruning demonstrations I gave in and about the Evansville area. One of the topics I touched on was pruning safety, including the inherent danger of untrained property owners using chainsaws to prune trees.

This part of my lecture slammed me in the face when I started reading my on-line news sites. It seems that over the weekend...probably as I was holding my pruning seminar...a man in Missouri died while cutting down a tree with a chainsaw. The article stated that he had been hit in the body by both the tree and the saw. I think the most disturbing part of the article was that the police had to spend time trying to identify the victim.

A chainsaw is probably the most dangerous tool that a home gardener can come across. One garden writer has estimated that there are 40 thousand reported deaths and injuries due to chainsaws in the United States each year (and that does not include the accidents that were not reported by hospitals for privacy reasons).

Add to that the thousands of injuries and deaths caused by lawn mowers and other garden equipment, and it's a wonder why any of us would venture outdoors. The sad thing is, nearly all of these injuries are preventable.

First and foremost in all gardening situations is know your body's limitations. Even such innocuous tasks as digging a planting hole can cause injury. Be sure that you can physically handle the equipment you are using. You might need to buy a smaller and lighter saw or mower, just so that you can handle it safely.

Know how to use your equipment properly. That means read the owner's manual, and follow all of the safety and handling instructions. Many chainsaw injuries occur when the operator tries to start the saw by the "air drop" method. It looks cool and macho to start a saw that way, but it's also an excellent way to give yourself a severe cut across your legs.

Be sure your equipment is in working order. Do not use your equipment if it's damaged. Do not try to disengage safety devices! They were put into the machine for a reason, so use them. I've seen people use elaborate methods to get around safety shut offs, making the machine much more dangerous. Older chainsaws and mowers may not have some of the more modern safety devices, like blade brakes; consider replacing these older units with newer, safer ones.

Even if you know what your body can do, and even if you are using the equipment according to the owner's manual, you still need to use some common sense and put the two together. In the case of tree trimming, I've seen people start their chainsaws properly, and then climb up a rickety ladder and reach up to cut a branch that's over their heads! Or I'll see people mowing their lawns while their children and pets race around the yard. Always look to see what could possibly go wrong while you're working.

A moment's inattention is all that's needed for you to be seriously hurt. Take the extra time to put tools away, rather than risking stepping on them. Watch where you are pruning (or, as my brother-in-law told me, "Always know where your fingers are!").

I don't want to read about any of you in this paper under the headline "Local Gardener Injured By Garden Tool." Please be careful out there!

For more information on garden safety, contact the Purdue Extension Service at (812) 435-5287.