How to prevent lawn mower injuries to kids
Every year, about 10,000 children nationwide are injured by lawn mowers and these injuries are the No. 1 cause of major limb loss for children under 10 years of age in the United States, according to the University of Iowa’s Injury Prevention Research Center.
A study by that university found that the majority of the thousands of lawn mower injuries to kids, around 70%, were sustained when the child was a bystander and struck by the lawn mower while getting too close and not being seen or heard by the operator.
Roughly 25% of the children’s injuries resulted from falling off a riding lawn mower while a passenger. Such mowers are not designed with a passenger seat.
Nationwide’s Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, saw nine mower-related injuries in minor patients in April and May.
While that number seems small, Tracy Mehan, the hospital’s director of research translation and communication, noted that the hospital is just a small part of a larger statewide and national picture of injuries that are often serious and possibly life-threatening.
“We see loss of fingers, hands, toes, feet, deep cuts, burns, broken and dislocated bones, eye injuries, all of those types of things happen from lawn mowers,” Mehan said.
Keeping kids safe in mowing season
Mowing season still has months to go, and with kids out of school for summer and itching to play, an increase in these types of accidents is of great concern, Mehan said.
But they’re also completely preventable.
Mehan recommends taking precautions to make sure your children don’t see the lawn mower as a toy, including not allowing them to play on it when it’s off or stored away, or to ride on your lap while a riding mower is in use. Parents or caretakers should wear appropriate safety gear like eye and ear protection to signal the seriousness of the machinery to children.
Many mower-related injuries come from objects unexpectedly flying out from under the lawn mower while it’s in use, so operators should first try to pick up stones or sticks that could be launched from the running blades before mowing their lawn.
Ideally, children should not be outside in the first place while a parent or caretaker is mowing, but under supervision indoors instead, Mehan said. Children playing outside might not be heard over the lawn mower’s engine and could get too close.
Mehan also recommends storing the lawn mower before letting the kids back outside, as a recently run lawn mower could still be hot and possibly result in burns if a child touches it.
If parents are seeking help with lawn chores or kids are hoping to earn summer money, children should be at least 12 years old to operate a push mower and at least 16 years old before using a riding mower. Adults should always supervise their children and supervise teens until they’ve demonstrated they can properly use the mower.