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grass cutting. a hazard that needs to be controlled ?
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Posted By paulw71
yes or no answers only please.
Do you consider freshly mown grass (wet or otherwise a hazard that should be controlled)
Just want to try and ascertain a concensus of opinion on this.
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Posted By Raymond Rapp
Paul
I am aware of another thread on a similar subject and there is not a 'yes' or 'no' answer. Circumstances would dictate whether controls are needed. That said, if I was held at gunpoint, I would say...no (Sir).
Ray
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Posted By Emma Forbes
Now you should know better than to expect a yes or no answer from here Paul!
How can you answer that? When completing the risk assessments for Parks, it was a hazard if the guys were cutting a slight banking or weeding/pruning after grass had been cut, slip, fall risk. All dependent on the site and the process isn't it.
No it isn't a hazard generally, although there has been a push in this LA to cut and lift for aesthetic reasons, where some have used health and safety as why it should be done - I'll be interested to see what the consensus is.
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Posted By paulw71
Well im going to nail my colours to the mast and say .....no
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Posted By Yossarian
I think I would say a qualified "no".
Provided that there were no walkways in the area accessible to those with restricted mobility or slopes where an additional slip hazard could be introduced.
However each situation would need to be assessed individually and the whole should not be subject to a blanket policy decision based on cost cutting.
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Posted By Peter F
In my area we do not collect the grass, but the gardeners do brush any loose grass back onto the grassed area from the pavement. This was our response to the R/A.
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Posted By paulw71
at last. thank you clare
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Posted By Yossarian
But Paul, it's not that simple - it never is!
You need to define the terms of your question or otherwise expect an ambiguous answer.
For a start, is the grass by the side of the pavement or in a large park?
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Posted By paulw71
Its on the edge of the roof on an extremely tall building in a chemical factory surrounded by banana skins above a pool full of crocodiles armed with machetes.
Yes or no
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Posted By andy.c.
what the hell its "Friday"
wearing a crocadile proof chemical suit, anti slip footwear and a harness
NO
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Posted By Yossarian
Ahh, but PPE is a last resort in the hierarchy of controls, so in that case "yes".
;-)
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Posted By MickN
As I look out the window and ponder the jobs I've been on (construction) and consider all the risks I have encountered/assessed/written procedures on, never once would "grass" have entered my mind...
No.
Mick
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Posted By clairel
Geez those crocodiles have evolved somewhat in recent years to arm themselves. But don't they think all those big teeth are enough?
...me I laugh in the face of such challenges - now where's that bungee!!! :-)
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Posted By Phil Rose
Paul
if only our jobs were that simple! A hazard it may be, whether it is a risk worth controlling is another matter. Probabaly not!
Wasn't there a James Bond episode where he escaped by treading on all the crocs to get back to 'safety'
Thank crunchie it's Friday!
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Posted By Chris Packham
Forget the crocodiles! The answer is "yes". There is an abundance of evidence that grass pollen can cause an asthmatic reaction in someone already sensitised. Of course, if the grass is kept very short then the quantity of pollen would be minimal, but the evidence I have is that you could not totally exclude it.
Having said this, do I wear a respirator when cutting the lawn? No!
Oh, and by the way, using a strimmer can cause airborne particulate and if the grass that is being cut contains the giant hog weed the sap from this can cause phototoxic skin damage.
Chris
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Posted By paulw71
Its a jungle out there.
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Posted By Tabs
Yes.
No.
Maybe.
Sometimes.
Seldom.
Usually.
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Posted By Chris Packham
Tabs
Perfectly correct! As with many working situations "it all depends" and those who seek a simple "yes/no" answer may be ignoring some of the complexities.
Funnily enough it is just this - and the unfortunate consequences - that seems to keep me in business. If it was just that simple would we need health and safety experts?
Chris
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Posted By Yossarian
To misquote Tolkien:
"It is said never go to the safety practitioner for advice for they will answer with both No, and Yes."
But then you wouldn't want an un-thought out answer, would you?
Namárië.
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Posted By paulw71
yes. I mean no.
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Posted By Ron Hunter
In season, I like to mow my own grass at least once a week. It will be in a "freshly mown" condition quite frequently.
'Freshly mown grass' in that context is no different then from a 'recently swept footpath' or 'recently vacuumed carpet'.
What's your point?
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Posted By Chris Packham
Ever put a dust lamp on a vacuum cleaner when it is being used on a carpet? Try it one day. You will find that most vacuum cleaners have filter bags that permit skin cells to pass through. So the user is standing in a cloud of dust, of course totally unaware of this.
Since it is dead skin cells, or rather what the house dust mite leaves behind once it has eaten them, that causes asthma in sensitised persons, the latter have to have vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters.
Same with grass. I know of someone who is so sentitised that they do wear a dust mask when mowing the lawn.
Isn't life just sooooo complicated.
Chris
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Posted By Phil Rose
I just bought a new mulching mower for home as was fed up with collecting countless bags of grass and driving to the dump with what I couldn't compost.
I daren't use it now! LOL - only kidding - it's fab!
Phil
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Posted By Phil Rose
Just another thought. Couldn't someone just tell my wife that grass cutting had been banned? Gets my vote LOL
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Posted By Ron Hunter
Chris, I'm with you on the vacuum cleaner issue.
I had to buy a HEPA filtered "Pet Vacuum" to better deal with a cat that seems to have a capability to shed twice its own body weight in hair every week.
Unfortunately the cat downright refuses to learn how to operate this "Pet Vaccum".
Any idea where I might get an instruction set written in feline?
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Posted By paulw71
Yes or no answers,
cats a hazard that need to be controlled.
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Posted By Chris Packham
Ron
Which part of MIAOUW doesn't your cat understand?
Chris
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Posted By N Whiteoak
I used to be a grounds maintenance manager for a local authority, and had 1,500,000m2 (average town) of aminity grass to cut. Grass left on pavements was blown back on the grassed area before the team left. I was often asked why grass was not collected, my answer was "Time, cost, logistics and effort" I suppose we could eliminate the problem and concrete over all grassed areas!!!
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Posted By Raymond Rapp
A few years ago my golf course had problems with grass growing on the greens. I asked the head green keeper if he could provide me with the formula so that I could apply it to my garden!
Have a nice weekend all.
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Posted By C. Wright
the formula for slowing down the rate of growth of grass on the greens is cider... properly applied in sufficient quantities the grass comes up already half cut
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Posted By Jeffrey Watt
The cider does not work if you filter it through your loop of Henle.
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Posted By Jeffrey Watt
Yes....if your a cow and you eat it.
Enzymes from plant species when mown (especially varieties of clover) break down into coumarin. Coumarin is metabolised by moulds into dicoumarin.
Dicoumarin is an anti coagulant that causes haemoraging in cows that eat the grass.
Dicoumarin is the precursor from which the synthesised analogue rat poison Warfarin was developed.
Carlsberg don't do smug gits but if they did.......
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Posted By Sue Wilkinson
YES.
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Posted By steve e ashton
2 micrograms of it in a test tube. NO
2 tonnes of it, baled and stacked unevenly on top an unstable pile of stale bales... YES
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grass cutting. a hazard that needs to be controlled ?
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