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The American Society for Surgery of the Hand has a press release out on the dangers of gardening.
Aparently the average American's backyard is veritable obstacle
course of lethal, or at least mildly annoying, injuries and accidents.
Besides the obvious thing like turning on a chain saw while holding the
wrong end, the society has a number of good tips on garden safety:
Wear gloves when working outside. Wearing the proper gloves will
not only reduce blistering, but will also protect your skin from
fertilizers and pesticides as well as bacteria and fungus which live in
the soil. When exposed to soil, even the smallest cut or lesion runs
the risk of developing into a major hand infection. Leather gloves
offer protection from thorny objects; snake, rodent, and insect bites;
poison ivy; and other skin irritants in the garden. Gloves also prevent
sunburn and fingernail damage.
Avoid prolonged repetitive motions. Unless you are
preconditioned or accustomed to the activity, repetitive motions, such
as digging, raking, trimming hedges, pruning bushes, or planting bulbs,
may cause skin, tendon or nerve irritation. Make sure your gardening
activities are varied and tasks are rotated every 15 minutes with a
brief rest in-between so that the same muscles are not used over and
over again.
When digging, watch for buried objects. Sharp objects and
debris buried in the soil may cause tendon lacerations or punctures.
Use a hand shovel or rake rather than your hand, itself, for digging.
Use the right tool for the right job. Avoid accidents by
using tools for their intended purposes. When purchasing pruners,
loppers, or shears, look for brands featuring a safety lock, and keep
sharp tools away from children at all times.
Use proper ergonomic posture. "Postures" refers not only to
your whole body position, but also to such things as the angle of your
wrist while using hand tools. Grip strength is at its maximum when the
wrist is in a relaxed or neutral position. Testing has shown that
people lose up to 25% of their grip strength when their wrist is bent
(source: Fiskars).
Avoid products with form-fitting, contoured handles. Many
tools are made with finger grips molded into the handle to provide
better slip resistance. These "form-fitting" grooves, however, only fit
one size of hand perfectly. People with larger hands will find that
their fingers overlap the ridges, causing pain, soreness, and calluses.
Those with smaller hands will have to spread their fingers to match the
grooves. Strength testing has shown that this spreading of the fingers
significantly reduces grip strength, requiring more pressure to
maintain control of the tool.
While I don't want sound too much like Chicken Little, a lot of this
is good solid advice. Come by the nursery, and talk with Michael or
Diana about what you can do to make gardening more safe, comfortable,
and enjoyable. For those not in the Modesto-area, check out Fork and Spade (our mail-order branch) for a great selection of gloves, kneepads, and ergonomic (without finger-grooves) tools.
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April 2004 
