Lawn Mower-Related Injuries to Children

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Young children must not be allowed to play in or be adjacent to areas where lawn mowers are being used. Children younger than 6 years should be kept indoors during mowing.

2. Children must not be allowed to ride as passengers on mowers or to be towed behind mowers in carts or trailers. They should not be permitted to play on or around the mower when it is in use or in storage.

3. Children should not operate lawn mowers until they have displayed the necessary levels of judgment, strength, coordination, and maturity. They should also be educated in mower operation and safety and be supervised by an adult before they are allowed to operate a mower by themselves. Most children will not be ready to operate a walk-behind power mower or hand mower until at least 12 years of age or a ride-on mower until at least 16 years of age.

4. Additional research regarding the circumstances and contributing factors of lawn mower-related injuries is needed, especially injuries involving mower instability or situations in which a person has been run over or backed over.

5. Strengthening of the voluntary standard of the American National Standards Institute and Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (ANSI/OPEI B71.1) is needed, for example, by requiring manufacturers to design ride-on lawn mowers that will not mow in reverse, with a manual override option. If adequate levels of safety cannot be achieved voluntarily, a mandatory federal safety standard may be necessary.

6. Designs for mower controls should continue to be improved for ease of operation and to minimize inadvertent control contact and unintended operation.

7. Evaluation is needed of the effectiveness of education programs and curricula for lawn mower operators, as well as the effectiveness of public awareness and education initiatives regarding lawn mower safety.

Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention, 2000–2001

Marilyn J. Bull, MD, Chairperson

Phyllis Agran, MD, MPH

H. Garry Gardner, MD

Danielle Laraque, MD

Susan H. Pollack, MD

Gary A. Smith, MD, DrPH

Howard R. Spivak, MD

Milton Tenenbein, MD

Liaisons

Ruth A. Brenner, MD, MPH

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Stephanie Bryn, MPH

Health Resources and Services Administration/Maternal and Child Health Bureau

Cheryl Neverman, MS

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Richard A. Schieber, MD, MPH

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Richard Stanwick, MD

Canadian Paediatric Society

Deborah Tinsworth

US Consumer Product Safety Commission

Section Liaisons

Victor Garcia, MD

Section on Surgery

Robert Tanz, MD

Section on Injury and Poison Prevention

Consultant

Murray L. Katcher, MD, PhD

Staff

Heather Newland