Export thread

Has anyone ever been injured badly while mowing the lawn? Fortunately, I have not, but I have a friend who pulled the mower back a little too far and chopped off his little toe! Ouuuuchhhh!

We used to have an older guy at work who was missing parts of several fingers. I asked my boss if that happened to him at work and he said, "No, Charlie was mowing his grass and picked up his mower with both hands so he could put it over a small fence. And it was running at the time!"

junebug1701 said:

We used to have an older guy at work who was missing parts of several fingers. I asked my boss if that happened to him at work and he said, "No, Charlie was mowing his grass and picked up his mower with both hands so he could put it over a small fence. And it was running at the time!"

Click to expand...

IMO "Charlie" was missing some brain cells before he lost some fingertips...."

Manny said:

Has anyone ever been injured badly while mowing the lawn? Fortunately, I have not, but I have a friend who pulled the mower back a little too far and chopped off his little toe! Ouuuuchhhh!

Click to expand...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accidents seem to have no limits. I know a fellow that also cut his toe off using a push mower. He was from a foreign country and new to lawn maintenance. It seems as if there was a paper coffee cup (yes paper in those days) behind the mower and he lifted the rear so the cup could be kicked underneath to see if it would shred said cup. Yes it did shred said cup, along with the shoe toe and longest toe inside the shoe.

He had a PhD in economics and taught at a university.

There was a study on accidents, in which I believe, a professor of mine achieved his PhD in industrial arts education. And if I recall correctly this work was done at the University of Missouri.

There were 5 things that were responsible for most accidents and maybe I can recall at least four of them and possibly all five.

1) A lack of safety knowledge

2) A lack of safety skill

3) An improper safety attitude

4) Emotional instability

5) Mechanical failure

6) Physical Being

Let me explain some of these 4) , 5) and 6)

5) Mechanical Failure - Can often be traced back to difficulty observing Nos 1,2, 3

4) Emotional Instability - Not necessarily in tears. In this study Emotional Instability was defined as any instance a person is distracted from concentrating on the task being preformed at any given time.

6) Physical Being - What is your condition? Do you have an arm in a sling, a patch over one eye, a headache, a finger splinted or just wore smack out from a long day's work?

Example worst case: Emotional Instability - I'm running my table saw and while cutting someone intentionally tries to distract me by shouting, making a loud noise of some sort or even laying a hand on my shoulder. At that moment, for self preservation, I'm using all my senses - touch, hearing, sight, smell and any others I can find and don't need even one of them being pulled from the line up even for an instant. I like to visit as well as anyone but it'll be done after the saw has shut down to a complete stop.

The human mind can not concentrate on more than one thing at a time. A lot of people believe they can and will argue the point until sun down but if they are trying two or more only one can be concentrated on at any given instant. One of the best recent examples is driving while texting.I know some won't agree but that's OK with me.


Now for normal tasks like the spit and whittle club would encounter we can visit and whittle all day.:biggrin:

Well, I think these sort of accidents happen because of not taking much care and caution. With proper mechanisms, all these injuries can be avoided.

Your friend's experience must have been a painful one.

I have heard of people cutting off their fingers with their mower and I really don't understand how they do it. I mean, it just doesn't make sense. People should be more careful.

That is crazy. Who picks up a running machine with blades with it still going? I think he was definitely missing some sense upstairs, the lights were on but no one was home.

SandburRanch....TERIFFIC POST...YOU SAID IT SO WELL :thumbsup:

Thanks JDgreen and I just knew I couldn't remember all of them in one setting from that many years ago so I added the No. 6 - Physical Being.

I personally think that if you do not know how to use something you should leave it alone until you figure it out, don't try to use a tool that you are unfamiliar with, especially if it is mechanical.

brucesdeere said:

I personally think that if you do not know how to use something you should leave it alone until you figure it out, don't try to use a tool that you are unfamiliar with, especially if it is mechanical.

Click to expand...

It's not always about not know how to use the tool, it's about knowing how to use your brain! All it takes is using your common sense!

People need to be trained to use a lawn mower as they can do serious damage to your body in a split second.
Treat machinery with respect or you will suffer dire consequences.

I would say presence of mind is it. Safety and Training Coordinators in companies are tasked to remind employees about presence of mind.

They also teach presence of mind in the military. They literally memorize things like, always put your gun on safety with or without ammo. I asked a captain why. He said, sometimes you think your gun has no ammo. But then sometimes you're wrong and you find out too late.

So, going back to mowers, sometimes you think the blade isn't turning. But then sometimes you're wrong and you find out too late.

I have never had an accident while mowing. I find that the riding mower or tractor is more dangerous that the push mower. Keep in mind that it's very flat where I live so it's more of a one dimensional threat.
I find that when I'm pulling the mower up an incline towards myself, I am reminded of how dangerous that particular technique is, especially if the slope is in any way slippery, as you are pulling the mower right towards towards your foot.
I have a small slope because I have a pond. Mowing perpendiclar to the slope leaves the oil on one side of the crankcase. I've since decided to landscape that portion of the yard so as to eliminate the need and also the risk.

RobertBrown said:

I have never had an accident while mowing. I find that the riding mower or tractor is more dangerous that the push mower. Keep in mind that it's very flat where I live so it's more of a one dimensional threat.
I find that when I'm pulling the mower up an incline towards myself, I am reminded of how dangerous that particular technique is, especially if the slope is in any way slippery, as you are pulling the mower right towards towards your foot.
I have a small slope because I have a pond. Mowing perpendiclar to the slope leaves the oil on one side of the crankcase. I've since decided to landscape that portion of the yard so as to eliminate the need and also the risk.

Click to expand...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What in the world are you trying to do? OH, I know. Put the ER out of business in the mowing accident category.:laughing::laughing: If everyone had your attitude that may very well work.

You get an A+ on these three rules:

1) Safety knowledge

2) Safety skill

3) Proper safety attitude