 Todd Davis |
Let’s face it. The nursery business is a dangerous gig. I can think of more hazardous jobs — rodeo cowboy, lumberjack, high school shop teacher — but if you’re not careful, accidents will happen. And in severe cases, those accidents can be deadly. At Skinner Nurseries, we’ve had a pretty good run of safety. Companywide in 2009 we had a few workers’ compensation claims here and there, but nothing major. I don’t know whether to credit luck or our safety training programs, but we’ll take it. Strangely enough, looking over the accidents we’ve had over the past few years, I’m not certain any amount of training could have prevented many of them. Freakish things, at times, just seem to happen. Trailer danger But injuries at this company do tend to fall into categories. One thing in particular stands out. If an alien from another planet glanced over our injury reports for the past decade, it would think a “trailer” was some type of vicious, ferocious beast. Whatever you do, don’t go near one of those things or you’re doomed. Granted, nursery workers spend an awful lot of time on and around trailers. During spring, we have crews that basically do nothing but load outgoing and unload incoming trailers all day. And since those trailers do tend to get wet and slippery, it’s no surprise that falls occur from time to time. But if you want to eliminate a lot of trailer-related accidents, teach your employees how to get on and off of them.  First things first, don’t let employees take flying leaps off of the decks of refrigerated trailers 5 feet off the ground. Hey, I’m guilty of doing this too (though less so now that I’ve hit the big 4-0), but leaping from the back of a trailer to the ground is an ankle or back injury waiting to happen. Strangely enough, we’ve had a few tarp-related accidents over the years. We’ve had employees walking backward pulling tarps over loads of trees. When the straps break, workers fall, which can cause back injuries. In one case, an employee was pulling down on a strap to tie down a tarp. Again the strap broke and the worker slammed his face onto the trailer. Is this accident reminiscent of a Three Stooges episode? Yes. Is it funny? No. So let’s visually inspect tarp straps every now and then to help prevent these accidents. Yes, lifting injuries And, of course, improper lifting of heavy or awkward objects has been the source of injuries over the years. So let’s teach people how to properly lift items to help prevent these accidents. And for crying out loud, tell people to avoid lifting things that are too heavy to handle safely. Every nursery has some Hercules that thinks he can lift and load 65-gallon trees on the back of pickup trucks by hand. Tap Mr. Muscles on t-he shoulder and hand him the keys to the loader sitting 100 feet away. But the vast majority of the accidents we have are very minor — assorted cuts, nicks, scrapes, pokes and bug bites. But, while minor, they add up and get expensive over time. Tell your folks to always wear proper protection (gloves and eyewear in particular) and to use common sense. And for crying out loud, be careful when lighting barbecue grills and picking up golf balls sitting next to air-conditioning units. You never know where the next “nursery-related” accident is just waiting to occur. |
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