Friday, January 27, 2006
Community Garden Health and Safety
It seems like community gardening should be a fairly safe and healthy undertaking. Certainly, we can see health benefits come out of the things we grow there.
Are there safety and health hazards related to community gardens? Like most activities we do, there are potential hazards. Some are obvious, like the improper use of safety equipment when using power tools, including tillers, mowers, and trimmers. Others may not be so obvious. They range from stinging insect nests to personal safety threats posed by garden areas screened from public view.
Hazards can be broadly grouped into:
- Physical - items like trip and slip hazards
- Chemical - use of pesticides and fertilizers, even organic ones!
- Biological - snakes, insects, feral animals
- Equipment - using broken tools, power equipment, mishandling of fuel for equipment
- Personal Safety - assault and harassment incidents in the neighborhood or the garden
A reasonable community garden management strategy should include health and safety awareness. Here are some simple steps to raising H and S awareness:
1) At meetings include safety and health items on the agenda.
2) As gardeners sign up for the season, review H and S issues with them.
3) Post H and S signs around the garden
4) Do a thorough inventory of potential hazards at the start of the season and correct them
5) Do periodic H and S inspections, say at the first of the month
6) Ask gardeners to look for, report and correct(if possible) H and S concerns
7) For larger gardens, perhaps a safety volunteer can be recruited to lead efforts
Health and safety professionals typically ask the question - Who is responsible for your safety? The answer is me. I have to ask myself "Am I about to do something
stupid or risky?" Beyond that, the garden and gardeners can help each other out by being health and safety conscious. Watch, report, and fix, as you are able, safety and health hazards.
Good garden safety grows from this seed. Watch for your own safety and help keep the garden a fun, healthy and safe place. ¶ 7:49 PM
It seems like community gardening should be a fairly safe and healthy undertaking. Certainly, we can see health benefits come out of the things we grow there.
Are there safety and health hazards related to community gardens? Like most activities we do, there are potential hazards. Some are obvious, like the improper use of safety equipment when using power tools, including tillers, mowers, and trimmers. Others may not be so obvious. They range from stinging insect nests to personal safety threats posed by garden areas screened from public view.
Hazards can be broadly grouped into:
- Physical - items like trip and slip hazards
- Chemical - use of pesticides and fertilizers, even organic ones!
- Biological - snakes, insects, feral animals
- Equipment - using broken tools, power equipment, mishandling of fuel for equipment
- Personal Safety - assault and harassment incidents in the neighborhood or the garden
A reasonable community garden management strategy should include health and safety awareness. Here are some simple steps to raising H and S awareness:
1) At meetings include safety and health items on the agenda.
2) As gardeners sign up for the season, review H and S issues with them.
3) Post H and S signs around the garden
4) Do a thorough inventory of potential hazards at the start of the season and correct them
5) Do periodic H and S inspections, say at the first of the month
6) Ask gardeners to look for, report and correct(if possible) H and S concerns
7) For larger gardens, perhaps a safety volunteer can be recruited to lead efforts
Health and safety professionals typically ask the question - Who is responsible for your safety? The answer is me. I have to ask myself "Am I about to do something
stupid or risky?" Beyond that, the garden and gardeners can help each other out by being health and safety conscious. Watch, report, and fix, as you are able, safety and health hazards.
Good garden safety grows from this seed. Watch for your own safety and help keep the garden a fun, healthy and safe place. ¶ 7:49 PM
