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Lawn
Mower Safety
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that at least
60,000 injuries are treated by hospital emergency rooms each year
due to lawn mower accidents.
Consider the environment before you mow your lawn
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Is the grass wet? Don't mow the lawn!
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Are
there significant inclines or declines in your yard? Do not
cut on inclines of greater than 10-12 degrees. Use a riding
mower to mow up and down an incline. Use a walk-behind mower
to mow across.
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Are
there people near where you are going to mow? Don't mow! Lawn
mowers occasionally propel objects they run over at a high rate
of speed.
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Are
there items that will be in your way? Move toys, branches, hoses,
extension cords, and any other objects that would cause damage
to the mower, yourself, or others.
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Wear eye protection and if noise bothers you, ear plugs.
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Wear
clothing and shoes that will not interfere with the safe operation
of the mower. Double knotted, sturdy, shoes and close fitting
clothing is best.
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Never
leave a running lawn mower unattended.
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Never
carry passengers on mowers.
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Do
not mow in the dark or twilight.
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Keep
your hands and feet free of any moving parts.
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Do
not pull your walk-behind mower. Pulling the mower increases
the likelihood that you will pull the blade onto your feet.
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Do
not disable any of the built in safety features like the "deadman"
bar.
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Do
not let children operate the mower.
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Disable
mower blade when on the driveway or sidewalk. This may mean
that you must turn the mower off.
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Do
not smoke when you are handling gasoline. Keep gasoline containers
in approved containers and make sure that you store the container
away from any heat sources. Gasoline should also be kept in
well-ventilated areas.
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Let
engine cool for 10 minutes before filling with gasoline
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Read
how to properly operate your mower before you start it. Operator's
manuals have come a long way and are now quite user friendly,
so read it.
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