Can anything help you to prevent unexpected accidents while mowing? We know you’re not here to answer a question rather find a solution. Well, yes, there’s one thing that can help you is “awareness.” Awareness is all about following some safety tips during hedge trimming.
Some hedge trimming safety tips help, and if you’re following them, you’re less likely to face an accident. The problem begins when you’ve started working with this device recently and don’t know how to protect yourself while getting the job done.
Thus we’re going to introduce you to the most important hedge trimming safety tips that’ll protect you from danger.
10 Actionable Hedge Trimming Tips to Save You from Danger
An accident can occur just in a second when you’re too busy with the task at hand and neglecting safety tips. Though small accidents are a normal thing, you can take measures to avoid the bigger ones…
1. Starting and Holding the Hedger
No doubt, you know to start the machine like a pro. But are you sure you’re following all the basic safety tips while doing it?
You want to avoid getting injured, and that’s why put the hedger on a smooth surface and hold it down with your one hand.
Now start the hedge trimmer with the other hand and prevent wrapping that starter cord in that hand. Keep the cord on your shoulder so it won’t come on the way and get cut accidentally.
Don’t let any kid or adult come even 40 feet close to the place. Never even think of working on a ladder or stool, I repeat, Never.
Because you need a concrete basement to stay safe and balanced, keep your feet strong and maintain a comfortable space between them. Then hold the hedge trimmer with both hands.
Be careful about the electrical garden, stones, bricks, or sticks all around your garden. You shouldn’t touch them with the device in your hand. But if you still do, accidentally, then turn off the hedge trimmer immediately.
2. Get Geared Up
Would you mind buying a shirt to wear only during hedging? But if you already have a tight-fitting shirt, then maybe you don’t have to!
Loose-fitting shirts can be dangerous while trimming hedges because you never know exactly when the hedger will get to that loose part and grab it. This will not only cut your shirt but will also end up injuring your body. Make sure it’s long-sleeved as well.
There’s some other gear items such as big goggles to protect your eyes from dirt, leaves, debris. Gas hedgers make constant noise all the while, which is very annoying. Ear protection is a must with this kind of hedge trimmer.
Again almost all kinds of hedgers vibrate badly during the operation. You can’t hold the trimmer steadily, and an accident is beyond. A pair of rubber gloves should take care of this problem. For legs and foot protection, put on long pants and closed-toes boots.
3. Don’t Trim Wet Leaves
Maybe it rained last night or somebody watered your plant stealthily. I know it’s so much fun to trim off wet hedges. Water makes the leaves and branches very soft; this is where the fun comes from. But some risk factors outweigh the fun.
Electric devices don’t go well with water; I can’t wait to mention this real thing. You’re using an electric hedge trimmer, and it’s very risky to cut wet hedges with it. You can get a heavy electric shock anytime and be seriously injured.
Apart from that, wet leaves are comparatively heavier than dry ones. So it puts pressure on the hedger after hedging a while. This is the reason you shouldn’t trim wet leaves. Waiting for a few hours to maximum 24 hours should be enough for the hedges to get dried out.
4. Avoid Going Too Far With It
Don’t think of going too far with an electric hedge trimmer. Staying in the range is important. Otherwise, it should kickback, which will make you fall badly. I hope you’re aware of the outcome when someone falls with a running hedge trimmer in hand.
If your backyard includes a giant space and you’ve an electric hedger, you can only think of using an extension cord. Make sure no kid is entering this area and touching the cable to avoid an accident.
5. Install an RCD
I’m pretty much sure no one loves to get an electric shock. But I don’t know if you’re an exception. RCD or Residual Current Device is an electric device that protects you from a shock when you touch something live.
Suppose you’re trimming hedges, and you get careless for a second to cut off the electric cable. A big accident can occur if you hadn’t installed an RCD. Because RCD can sense if the power is running to the device is passing through a human body. So the RCD will switch off the machine immediately and save the person from death or serious injuries.
Look for RCDs that are specially designed for gardening. You might even want to choose between socket-outlet RCD and portable RCD. However, they both tend to protect the hedge trimmer user only.
6. Operating Tips
You should end up injuring yourself if you don’t know how to handle a hedger. It’s not difficult to do if you have the basic idea about operating a hedge trimmer. Always keep your body balanced as you’ve a dangerous machine in hand.
Hold the machine with your hands close to your chest. This helps you to stay balanced all the while. Also, refrain yourself from extending your hands out. As your hedge Trimmer is constantly shaking, you won’t be able to control its weight and end up falling with it.
The Hedge blade is the most dangerous part of this machine. You better not hold the hedge trimmer in a way where the blade is positioned towards your body; it doesn’t matter if the hedge trimmer is turned off or on or while turning it off.
Right after you’ve plugged the device into the power, you better treat it carefully; otherwise, it should misbehave with you.
7. Clean Up the Surface
Cleaning up the area you’re going to hedge is beyond necessary. First of all, there are many dry leaves, kid’s toys, garden decors, bricks or stones, and many other obstacles.
If you don’t remove them from the trimming area, you might end up damaging those objects. Moreover, stumbling and falling isn’t rare in this case.
Imagine there’s bricklaying down on your way while hedge trimming, and you forgot to remove it, and you’re lost in trimming hedges. Suddenly you come across it and fall. Sadly, this is not all.
When you fall holding a hedge trimmer, you’re more likely to cut yourself. I hope you remember the proverb that goes; prevention is better than cure.
8. Pay Attention
Do I even need to say that staying attentive is the most crucial thing during the whole procedure? You can use different kinds of equipment, the fanciest hedger, most expensive gear and yet face several accidents at a time.
The only thing that helps is keeping your mind awake. Again, Only staying careful isn’t enough and you’ve to follow other safety guides to protect yourself from danger.
9. Read the User Manual
I thought I’m the only one to avoid manual books. But all the people I’ve come across do the same. It’s a boring thing to do, I know. But when it comes to working with a dangerous device like this, it’s worth reading the book A to Z.
Because just because it’s boring doesn’t mean you have to risk your life. Frankly, I’d avoid reading manual books of all regular devices that aren’t dangerous. But for a hedge trimmer? Never.
Different manufacturers design their hedgers differently. When you go through the manual book, you’ll learn about different symbols on the machine and what they mean. Different hedge trimmers require different ratios of gas and oil to function properly. This is why it’s a must to go through the whole of the manual book.
10. Check the Hedger before Starting
A small defect in your hedge trimmer could lead to a serious accident. Be it a small leakage on the cable of the electric hedge trimmer or the power button taking several presses to start or stop the machine, it’s a warning sign that something unexpected will happen.
It would be best if you fix it before any such thing takes place. Make sure all the nuts and bolts are secured tightly and not coming off.
It’s recommended to load gas to the hedge trimmer all at once for the whole session. You wouldn’t want to stop midway because you ran out of fuel.
Again after running the machine for some time, the machine gets heated really fast, so that pouring gas can be quite dangerous at that time. You may burn some part of your skin in the process.
If you find the blade isn’t cutting the hedge decently and taking longer than normal, you’ve to sharpen the blade and try again.
Final Words
Though electrical hedge trimmers are a little difficult to work with, they can be the best kind of hedge trimmer if some safety tips are maintained.
Gas and battery hedge trimmers are easy to run and are quite safe compared to electric hedge trimmers. But if you go careless for a moment, an accident can occur.
So, no matter what type of hedge trimmer you’re using, it’s crucial to follow safety tips to save yourself from danger.