The U.S. Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is urging Midwest employers to highlight lawn safety following two fatal roll-over accidents that happened just days apart.
According to a Sept. 29 news release, DOL and OSHA issued a warning to employers to provide workers with training about the risks they face and how to avoid them after incident in Nebraska and Missouri resulted in fatal injuries.
“While our investigations of these recent tragedies in Missouri and Nebraska continues, they are harsh reminders of the dangers of operating riding mowers,” OSHA Regional Administrator Billie Kizer in Kansas City, Mo., said in the release. “Employers are responsible for training workers to recognize and avoid hazards, especially when it comes to mowing grass on slopes and in poor terrain.”
On Sept. 9, 2022 in Boys Town, Nebraska, a riding mower flipped over, trapping the victim underwater in a reservoir, the release reported. Just four days later, a worker in Butterfield, Mo., was crushed by a mower that had overturned on top of him.
“Lawn mower injuries happen at many types of work sites – from office parks to golf courses and from highway medians to public parks – and, at times, workers are assigned lawn maintenance tasks only as needed, which can put workers less familiar with operating these machines safely at risk,” Kizer added, according to the release.
Since 2019, 35 workers in the U.S. have died in lawn mower roll-over incidents, the release reported.
