Here are 10 tips to share at an upcoming safety meeting—they may also serve as valuable reminders to workers who plan to spend the weekend gardening or doing other yard work.
Follow these safety tips for outside hazards—machinery, insects, heat, and more:
- Wear safety goggles, sturdy shoes, and long pants when using lawn mowers and other machinery.
- Protect your hearing when operating machinery. If you have to raise your voice to talk to someone who is an arm’s length away, the noise can be potentially harmful to your hearing.
- Make sure equipment is working properly.
- Wear gloves to protect from skin irritations, cuts, and contaminants.
- Use insect repellant containing DEET.
- Follow instructions and warning labels on chemical and lawn and garden equipment. (As a reminder, if workers will be using consumer chemical products in amounts and/or frequencies that exceed typical consumer use, employers must obtain a safety data sheet (SDS) for the product, ensure that it is properly labeled, and train workers in its hazards and safe work practices.)
- Reduce the risk of sunburn and skin cancer by wearing long sleeves, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunshades. Use sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher.
- Keep an eye on the thermometer, and take precautions in the heat.
- When working in hot weather, drink plenty of liquids, but not those that contain alcohol or large amounts of sugar, as they can cause you to lose body fluid.
- Pay attention to signs of heat-related illness, including high body temperature, headache, dizziness, rapid pulse, nausea, confusion, or unconsciousness.
The most effective and cost-efficient way to provide safety training for your workforce? Try a demo of BLR’s remarkable TrainingToday® at no cost or obligation.
And remember—if you hire a contractor for landscaping or other outdoor maintenance, it’s important to inquire about the company’s safety record and make sure they train and require employees to follow safe work practices. They may not be on your payroll, but if a contract worker is injured at your facility, OSHA can cite and fine not only the contractor, but the host employer as well.
Ready-to-Use Safety Training Courses
Are you looking for more safety training material on working outdoors or in the heat—or on more than 100 other critical safety topics? Topics such as:
- Back Safety
- Bloodborne Pathogens
- Permit-Required Confined Spaces
- Substance Abuse in the Workplace
- Exit Routes
- Fall Protection
- Forklifts
- Hazard Communication
- Lockout/Tagout
- SDSs
- Slips and Falls
- Violence in the Workplace
Look no further than the Workplace Safety Library on BLR’s TrainingToday®.
Try a demo of BLR’s remarkable award-winning TrainingToday® at no cost or obligation. This includes the Workplace Safety Library. Get the details.
Train for Compliance—and for Safety’s Sake
Unlike many training solutions available on the market today, TrainingToday courses are routinely reviewed and updated to reflect changes in federal regulations or best practices. Each training course is developed by BLR® lawyers, industry experts, and instructional designers who have experience across a wealth of industries, topics, and compliance areas.
Courses keep participants interested with engaging audio, built-in exercises, and key points to remember. At the completion of every course, individuals take a quiz designed to test for competency in all the course material presented. Quiz results and course completion times are automatically recorded.
Every course can be tailored with supporting and custom documents. BLR provides supporting documents for courses that include complete speaker notes and the answer key for the included quiz. As the administrator, you have the option of displaying uploaded documents and requiring review before the session begins. This is especially useful for company policies or worksite-specific information. Supporting materials can be added, edited, or removed at any time.
With only a few minutes’ setup, your company will have a complete Web-based training program with professionally developed courses, employee testing capabilities, and systematic documentation of employee training sessions and scores. And remember, BLR TrainingToday courses can be delivered at individual employee desks, in computer centers, at training kiosks, or even in a classroom.
No wonder BLR’s TrainingToday was named “Best Workforce Training Solution” by the Software Information Industry Association. It can help you launch a cost-effective and successful employee training program.
We urge you to sign up for a no-obligation demo by visiting the award-winning TrainingToday. Or, feel free to call our customer service people toll-free at 866-696-4827.