Create an Employee Health and Safety Program

When it comes to keeping your crews safe and healthy during the peak summer season, don’t think of them as your employees. Think of them as athletes on a team, and you’re the coach.

Keep in mind that your ‘team,’ in many ways, has it physically harder than pro athletes.

At least that’s the way that John Gibson—president of PLANET, the Professional Landcare Network, which represents more than 100,000 ‘green industry’ professionals—sees it. “The busy season is when we see injuries pick up,” says Gibson, who is also director of operations at Denver-based Swingle Lawn, Tree and Landscape Care. “Everyone will be hurrying and speeding up to get all of the jobs done. That adds up to fatigue. That adds up to injuries. At my business, we list safety as priority No. 1, then customer service, then production.”

At Oak Creek, Wis.-based Kujawa Enterprises Inc., it was clear by 2002 that something had to be done. It’s not like any employee lost a foot or anything; too many employees were having the kinds of minor accidents that tend to build up. Kujawa’s insurers said the situation had to improve, or the company could lose its coverage.

Kujawa immediately took action. Rick Rollo, vice president of operations, and others came up with a comprehensive safety program that has reduced accidents dramatically. The company produced a bilingual safety manual. Eye protection became mandatory. Steel-toed boots emerged as the norm, and extensive equipment instruction was incorporated into the company’s best practices.

But the effort went far beyond new rules and education. “You can only do so much with new regulations,” Rollo says. “You have to transform the culture, too. You have to convince your employees that being proactive about safety is in their own best interest.”

Make Safety a Winning Game
Kujawa launched a series of contests designed to spark enthusiasm for safety. Management will present “safety bingo,” in which a “number” is called out for every day without an accident. If an employee fills out a card after enough days in a row without an accident, he or she could get a TV. But if there is an accident, the game starts over. Kujawa employees also will “win” a small party after 100 days without an accident. If they go an entire year, they get a huge blowout, with lots of raffle prizes.

“Frankly, positive peer pressure can accomplish more than I can on my own,” Rollo says. “If you’re on a team and you’re gunning for big incentives for being safe, you’re not going to want to let your team down by being sloppy and having an accident.”

That said, below are key health and safety points for landscaping pros:

• Equipment inspections: Check out your equipment before the start of every day—especially if it’s aging. Are the proper guards in place? Are the handles on the shovels cracking? Are the spades getting rusted out? Are mower pull chords getting frayed? It only takes one faulty piece of equipment to injure one or more of your crew.

• Proper lifting: It’s advice that’s as old as the ages—lift by bending your knees, not your back. But how often do we ignore it out of sheer habit? “I’ve seen so many bad injuries this way,” Gibson says. “I’ve seen a guy throw his back out just by bending over to pick up a pen.”

• Best practices: The foreman is your eyes and ears in the field, and he or she should be vigilant when it comes to the overall safety practices. It could be as simple as setting up a wheelbarrow ramp too close to a truck, instead of going for a flatter, longer lead-up. Also, are workers approaching each other from behind to communicate, when someone is using a heavy, loud machine? Are truck operators fully aware of where everyone is before heading into a location? These are just a few of the practices to keep in mind.

• Proper nutrition: Landscaping crews like their snacks, doing the “grab and go” at the local convenience store. Try to promote a culture where alternative “fuel” is the norm so fatigue does not consume them in the late afternoon. “Breakfast is the most important meal we need to have,” Gibson says. “But our industry avoids it so often because we get out there so early.” The best advice here is to avoid the chips and doughnuts and go for tiny meals throughout the day loaded with nuts, fruits and granola. Avoid a big lunch to stave off drowsiness in the afternoon.

• Heat: You can’t avoid the heat. But you can manage it. Gibson suggests no less than a half-gallon of water every day for each worker. “We tell them they have to bring it,” he says. “It’s part of their equipment.” He also recommends that workers reduce or eliminate their dependence on soda. Keep an eye on your partners and encourage breaks in the shade, if necessary. It’s more important to keep the most valuable equipment—your crews—out there working.

PLANET and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration teamed up to provide information and guidance to landscaping workers and professionals (including non-English speaking workers) to help them reduce strains caused by manual material handling, amputations, motor vehicle crashes and other injuries. This can be found at PLANET’s Web site at http://www.landcarenetwork.org/cms/programs/safety.html.