With a fatality rate of 25.1 per 100,000 workers compared to 3.8 for all industries, the landscaping industry’s dangers are obvious – even more so when the numbers are broken down by tasks: landscaping/groundskeeping workers (10.1 per 100,000 workers), pesticide handlers (15.4) and tree trimmer/pruners (an astounding 179.9).
With summer – and its inevitable upsurge in landscaping activity – up ahead, NIOSH'S National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) chose to focus on the health and safety of landscape professionals at its first meeting of 2017. (The purpose of NORA’s sector and cross sector councils is to exchange information, form partnerships, and enhance dissemination and implementation of prevention tools.)