Mowing the lawn is a weekly summer ritual for hundreds of thousands of Australians. The hum of the mower on a hazy weekend afternoon and the smell of freshly mown grass are deeply embedded in our national psyche.

As halcyon as these images are, as representatives from leading Australian lawnmower manufacturers Victa and Rover Mowers, point out, there is an underside.

“Lawnmowers are generally safe when used correctly however, they can be potentially dangerous,” said Robert Tasso, Sales and Marketing Manager from Victa, the iconic Australian lawn mower manufacturing company.

Phil Richardson is Marketing Administrator at Rover Mowers, another company at the forefront of the Australian lawn mower industry.

“Essentially we are talking about machines with blades spinning at 3,000 RPM,” he said. “Unless I was certain that the machine is manufactured to the most stringent safety standards I frankly would not go near one.”

To put this figure into perspective, the force of blades spinning at this speed can generate around three times the muzzle energy of a .367 magnum pistol – a gun with the power to fire a bullet through the engine block of a car. When small debris such as pebbles or other potential projectiles come into contact with these blades, unless highly effective safety and protection systems are in place, the lawnmower is a deadly weapon.

Then of course, there is the potential for damage by direct contact with the blades themselves. Although most mowers on the market demonstrate that some care has been taken to secure potentially hazardous openings from probing fingers, toes or even whole limbs, the sad fact is that the tiny digits of small children can penetrate openings that some may have considered ‘safe’ from the penetration of adult-sized body parts.

Certainly, injury statistics bear out potential for harm from lawnmower injuries.

In one Sun Media report that appeared on the Canadian health website, www.chealth.canoe.ca, Dr Bruce Cohen, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Carolina Medical School in North Carolina, claimed that every year in the US there are 100,000 injuries due to power lawnmowers – and that 11 per cent of these happen to children under 15 years of age.

The Australian figures paint a similar picture.

A report by the Victorian Injury Surveillance System, published by VicHealth, found that lawnmowers are associated with 22 per cent of yard and garden equipment injuries; and around a quarter of those injuries were to children. Just over half of the victims required significant treatment.

The most common causes of injury were when the victims either caught a body part under, slipped under or were run over by the lawnmower; or were hit by an object such as a stone or nail that was thrown up by the lawnmower.

Safety first: independent testing the key

Having clearly established the potential of the lawn mower to do harm, what is the solution?

For manufacturers like Rover Mowers and Victa, the answer is frustratingly simple: and it is an answer with which the authors of such reports as that by VicHealth referred to above are in full agreement.

Firstly, they say, it should be mandatory that all mowers on the market meet the safety requirements set out in the Australian Standard. And secondly, the public should be educated about the basic safety precautions when mowing lawns (see box headed ‘Preventing lawn mower injuries’).

According to both Rover Mowers and Victa, there are major misconceptions in consumer awareness about the safety of the products they purchase, and mowers are a classic example.

“There is a real perception in the market place that if a product is for sale, then it must be thoroughly tested; it must be safe,” said Rover Mowers Quality Manager, David Wilson.

“I think most consumers would be shocked to learn that this is simply not the case. There is no such mandatory requirement for testing for mowers. Often, the first anyone knows that such claims are false and a mower is unsafe is when an accident occurs. And by then of course, it’s way too late.”

Mr Wilson’s point is dramatically underscored by the fact that, until very recently, only mowers made by two lawnmower brands on the Australian market, Victa and Rover Mowers, are independently certified as meeting the Australian Standard. (At time of going to press, some mowers of a third brand, Masport, also gained certification.)

In a market comprising mower sales in the region of 250,000 each year, this is a disturbing figure.

“We spend an enormous amount of time, effort and money in the research, development and design of our mowers,” said Joe Camilleri, Quality and Technical Services Manager at Victa.

“Our mowers have to meet a wide variety of rigorous tests before we will put them to market. As well as safety, these relate to the quality and durability of our products, and their ability to withstand and perform in uniquely challenging Australian conditions, which tend to be harder, tougher and dryer than those of many other countries. The rigour of the Australian Standards requirements reflects those conditions.”

Rover Mowers, are equally serious about the quality and safety of their products.

“I would advise consumers to look for safety, quality and value. There are cheaper products that don’t meet the standards, but you have to question value when safety is in question, and when the quality of the product is poor. It’s not what you pay on the day, it’s what you pay over years and that’s where our mowers deliver, because they last.”

Rover Mowers also sells the only Australian Standard certified ride-on mowers on the market.

“These mowers are obviously potentially very dangerous, and ours have an array of safety features that comply with the demanding Australian Standards, to meet demanding Australian conditions,” says David Wilson.

Certification and the Australian Standard: mowing down the opposition

The confusion and misconception that surrounds the issue of product safety is a vexed one. Manufacturers often make claims about the standards their products meet. Unless these claims are independently tested, there is no guarantee that the claims are true.

In some cases, a manufacturer may have a product independently tested by a laboratory in order to demonstrate that it has certain characteristics. Such one-off tests, known as ‘type-testing’, can be flawed because they look at only one example of the product concerned, at one moment in time. Manufacturing materials and processes are notoriously subject to change, and even the smallest change can result in the product concerned being dramatically altered.

Product certification by an independent third party organisation such as SAI Global that has been in the product certification business for decades involves not only the rigorous testing of many product examples to the industry-recognised Standard concerned. Critically, it also involves ongoing auditing and testing to ensure that the product remains compliant with the Standards over years. If a manufacturing process is changed, and that results in non-compliance, the auditing process will identify the fact. The fault concerned must then be rectified, or the product will lose its certification.

Some of the rigours a certified lawnmower must withstand include:

• foot and finger probe tests

• ball bearing tests to assess projectile behaviour

• blade strength and fracturing tests

• bolt security testing

• guard, cowling and baseplate testing

The rise and rise of the mulching mower

Successive years of drought have taken their toll on the lawn, and indeed, in times of drought the lawnmower industry feels the pinch.

However, it seems unlikely that the Aussie lawn will become a feature of the past anytime soon.

One of the more popular innovations of recent years is the mulching mower, whose blades finely shred the grass they are cutting and then force them at speed deep back into the lawn, where the fine clippings (or shreddings) form a water-preserving mulch barrier. This is an attractive, cost effective and very environmentally effective way of keeping the lawn green even in dry months and when water restrictions are in place.

Indeed, many environmental agencies including the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Fisheries recommend the use of such mowers on domestic lawns.

Both Victa and Rover Mowers manufacture certified mulching mowers.

Preventing lawn mower injuries

Using a mower that has been independently certified as meeting the Australian Standard is one major step toward safer lawn mowing. You should also follow these safety basics when using any lawnmower:

• wear gloves, safety glasses and sturdy footwear when mowing. Long trousers are recommended.

• clear the area to be mown of debris such as rocks, sticks and other objects that may become deadly projectiles; using a rake can be helpful for this.

• don’t put your hands anywhere near the blades – rear or underside – of the mower when it is turned on including when attaching or removing the grass catcher or mulching plug.

• never let children near the lawnmower. Children under 15 should not be allowed to use lawnmowers.

• keep children away when mowing lawns

• never lift or carry a lawnmower when it’s running

• don’t use electric lawnmowers near water such as swimming pools or when it’s raining. If mowing using an electric mower, do not pull it toward you, as this heightens the risk of running over the power cord. Ensure electric mowers have safety shut-off switches, double insulated cords, and that your home’s own ELCB’s are in working order.

• always follow the manufacturer’s operating instructions

• keep mowers clean and free of debris

• do not try to repair or modify a mower yourself. Use only licensed repairers.

Happy mowing!

You can find out more about lawn care and mowing at www.victa.com.au and www.rovermowers.com.au

For more about the Australian Standard; product certification and SAI Global’s product certification services, contact our customer service centre on 1300 360 314 or visit www.sai-global.com

This document last updated: 2004-09-29