Lawn mowers are real useful this time of year, but they can also be very dangerous if used improperly. TV 5 Healthy Advisor Dr. Jonathan Wood joined Jim Morris on TV5 News at 5 to help keep your yard work safe.

Almost 80,000 times each year people check into Emergency Departments for lawnmower injuries. More than 9,000 of those victims are children, despite the fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly warns against children being anywhere near lawnmowers, much less operating them. Walk-behind mowers result largely in extremity injuries, while riding mowers often include injuries to other parts of the body, including the head and torso.
How can you reduce the risk of serious lawnmower injuries to children?
Here are a few common sense ideas, as well as some others you may not have considered.
1. A lawn mower is a dangerous tool. The energy of a mower blade is three times the muzzle energy of a .357 Magnum pistol, one of the world's most powerful handguns. The blade can throw a piece of debris, like a stone or piece of wire, at speeds up to 100 miles per hour. The result - one fourth of all hand and foot injuries caused by mowers include amputations of fingers, toes, hands, or feet. And the injuries are messy and complicated.
2. Children should never ride a mower with an adult. Each year a number of children suffer severe, and in some cases fatal, injuries after falling off a mower and then being run over.
3. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that a child be at least 12 years old before operating a power push mower, and be at least 16 to operate a riding mower. These age recommendations assume that the child is large enough to physically handle the equipment. Careful instructions and review of the operating manuals should be part of the routine of teaching a child or teenager how to use the mower. Ignorance is an accident waiting to happen.
4. Children should not be around a yard being mowed. Debris thrown by a mower can easily cross a yard and strike a child. Additionally, mower noise prevents operators from hearing the usual cues that children are near. Subsequently, 5 percent of lawnmower injuries to children occur when the mower backs over them because the operator does not see them. So - - clear the yard before mowing, of both debris and of children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued strongly stated advice about how to best prevent injuries from lawnmowers.
Please refer to the following web page for a nice synopsis: AAP Safety Tips

Be safe! Don’t bend the rules when it comes to lawn mowing… the risks are too great!

By- Dr. Jonathan Wood

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