Landscaping Safety Checklist to Protect Your Employees

According to data gathered in 2017 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, landscaping was listed among the top 11 occupations with the highest fatal injury count. The industry’s fatality rate of 16.9 per 100,000 workers is nearly five times that of all other workers, at a rate of 3.5 per 100,000 workers. If only there was an easy-to-find landscaping safety checklist, right? We got you covered!

Check out the full post below to implement strict safety practices on your landscaping job. It will help your company avoid hefty fines and, more importantly, boost employee morale and keep workers safe.

Setting Goals to Create Your Own Landscaping Safety Checklist

Firstly, set safety goals and expectations for the year. Start by visiting the OSHA or CCOHS website for safety compliance tools and tips. You can also look at last year’s results and set goals for the next year. In addition, you should take suggestions from your employees, since they see first-hand what can be improved on-site during landscaping contracts. Everyone should be working together and assuming responsibility for making safety the company’s number one priority. Getting your expectations right is the first step to build your custom landscaping safety checklist.

Once expectations are set, make sure that everyone is up to date on the latest construction safety tips with mandatory bi-weekly or monthly landscaping equipment safety training. By using videos and simulations during training, you can improve the chances of getting the message across. Additionally, you can continuously post reminders of the safety expectations to ensure that workers remember their responsibilities. It could also be useful to conduct random safety inspections on-site.

Building Awareness about Landscaping Safety

Since everyone’s involvement is key when it comes to safety, you need to ensure that safety is part of your company’s culture. Consider rewarding your staff to encourage them to take safe work practices seriously. This could come in the form of a bonus every six months for demonstrating proactiveness on the job. Additionally, you can offer perks or rewards, such as Amazon gift cards and a celebratory company lunch after a year of no work accidents. As an example, you can also offer an extra vacation day for your “Safety Employee of the Month”.—get creative with it!

Landscape Safety Topics for your Next Meeting

On-Site Safety Tips

Wear high-visibility clothes, no matter the job. Vehicle accidents are the leading cause of landscaping fatalities.
Avoid loose clothing at all costs to prevent it from getting caught in running equipment.
Have the right gloves for the job: vibration-absorbing gloves while operating vibrating material, chemical-resistant gloves when handling fertilizer, etc.
Start every new job with a safety brief to go over the essentials. For example, explain where the First Aid kit is located or where the designated hand-washing station.
Make sure your staff takes frequent breaks and has access to water. This is especially important in the summer months to avoid heat exhaustion, which can cause serious accident.
Ensure that your staff immediately reports anything that can be unsafe to their work.
Fill out an incident report in the event of an accident. Then, send this report to HR.

Landscaping Equipment Safety Training & Precautions

Make it mandatory for employees to read the safety manual before operating a new tool and always have these manuals accessible.
Keep staff away from any tools or equipment that they’re not trained to use.
Unplug electric tools before clearing a jam, to avoid getting extremities caught in the moving parts.
Ensure that tools are always sharp to avoid accidents and to minimize repetitive stress injuries.
Stop leaf blowers when pedestrians walk nearby to avoid accidentally hitting them with debris.
Make sure that employees are not trying to alter or bypass safety guards on equipment—they are there for a reason.

Safety Solutions Related to COVID-19

If your landscaping contracts must continue during this time, make sure to implement the following tips to keep your employees safe and healthy.
Minimize staff so that a safe distance of 6 feet can be maintained between them.
Keep office staff separate from field staff.
Set up a hand-washing station and ask all employees to wash their hands every 30 minutes.
Offer hand sanitizer to all employees.
Don’t let anyone work without an N95 respirator mask.
Provide employees with thermometers to check their temperature every morning. They should also monitor their health throughout the day.
Send home any employee displaying symptoms of a cold or flu immediately.
Disinfect steering wheels, phones, door, tools, and equipment handles daily.

While staying safe on the job is important, safety should start off-site first. Never put off implementing safety practices because you’re too busy. Make sure you are covering safety topics on a regular at meeting with your team. Accidents happen the second you stop prioritizing safety.

Click here to download our landscaping safety checklist.

Read up more on company culture for landscape professionals.