Lawn Mower Safety Tips

Mowing the grass is a chore you will have to do quite a bit of this spring and summer.

But lawn mowers can be dangerous when used incorrectly. Each year 75,000 people are injured in lawn mowing accidents and 10,000 of those are children. Frank Berlo with the Home Depot in Zanesville says safety boils down to using common sense.

" When mowers clog it is safe to make sure they are shut off and also unplug the spark plug wire so there is no chance, a lot of times when you have that plugged in you turn the blade and it starts up again," says Berlo.

Newer lawn mower models have a safety bar installed so if you let go the motor will stop. But older models don’t.

"You never leave a motor running anywhere because it could be on a hill and it could slide down the hill and hit someone and cut them and do a lot of damage so you never leave a mower running at anytime," says Berlo.

If you need to sharpen the blade, Berlo says to use a product that will grip the blade rather than holding it in your hand. Also make sure the protective shield on the rear of the push lawn mower is in place to save your feet from an accident.