safety culture Archives - The Edge from the National Association of Landscape Professionals

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safety culture

Safety Culture: Avoiding Electrical Hazards

Electrocution is the sixth leading cause of occupational fatalities in the United States, according to the CDC. In the landscape industry, these deaths be a result of coming into contact with underground or overhead electrical lines. Fatalities also stem from the use of power tools and portable generators or installing and maintaining the electrical components […]

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Photo: LaBahn's Landscaping

Protecting Your Business: Focus on Safety Training When Onboarding

Statistically, the first six to 12 months with a landscape company are the most dangerous period for new employees. By taking the time to ensure proper safety training from the start, you can help lower this high incidence level for your new hires. While it may seem like common sense to include safety training in […]

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Photo: SiteOne Landscape Supply

Safety Culture: Minimize Distracted Driving

As a lawn or landscape company, you have crews leaving your headquarters every day driving to various jobsites. While simply towing a trailer has its own set of risks, distracted driving increases the likelihood of an accident occurring. ā€œA distracted driver is much more likely to be involved in an accident than one who is […]

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Safety Culture: Step Up Your Ladder Safety

Ladders can be used for a number of tasks in the landscape industry, including pruning trees, cleaning gutters, installing holiday dĆ©cor, or installing/maintaining interior plantscaping. Even a fall from a relatively low height can result in painful and permanent injuries. According to OSHA, ladders are number four in the top 10 standards most frequently cited […]

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Safety Culture: Methods to Lower Your Experience Mod

When it comes to insurance, your experience modification (mod) is a factor you receive annually based on your historical claims for workers’ compensation and your payroll. Those two are compared with the national averages and you receive a number either below or above one. An experience mod below one means you’re doing better than the […]

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Safety Culture: Practicing Lockout/Tagout Procedures When Servicing Equipment

As cleaning, maintaining and repairing equipment is a normal part of a lawn or landscape company’s operations, it’s important to practice lockout/tagout procedures during these tasks. Lockout means placing a lock on a machine to prevent it from unexpectedly starting or energizing during service or repair. A lock might also prevent stored energy from being […]

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The Urgency for Doing Safety Differently in Landscaping – Serious Injury and Fatality Prevention

Guest content by Chris Lingard, director of risk and safety at HeartLand, LLC With 20+ years in health and safety, this profession still fascinates me because there is no easy button or step model for success. Although safety is often seen as auditing, behavioral correction, common sense, and discipline, it is truly about people, their […]

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Safety Culture: Learning from Close Calls Incidents

Everyone has had a close call at one time or another. While it’s a relief when no property is damaged and no personal injuries occur, if you and your team don’t take the time to analyze these events, the factors that contributed to a close call are like to recur. The next time, it could […]

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Safety Culture: Preparing Your Business for Natural Disasters

It’s typical to think of your home when it comes to emergency preparedness, but your business should also have a plan and procedures in place to ensure it can recover from natural disasters as well. Having an emergency preparedness plan can make the difference between staying in business afterwards or losing everything. According to FEMA, […]

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Photo: Monarch Landscape Management

How I Do It: Creating an Engaging Safety CultureĀ 

Monarch Landscape Management, based in Houston, Texas, sends out 180 employees into the field every day. Because their staff is their biggest asset, Monarch works hard to keep their team members safe. Every year Monarch looks at the company as a whole and chooses an initiative they want to take to the next level. Several […]

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