Landscaping is a physically demanding profession that requires handling sharp tools, fertilizer sprayers and heavy equipment. This nature of work can create significant hazards for workers.
Here are three common types of landscaping injuries and the risks they pose.
Heat-related illnesses
Landscapers often face extreme heat when performing outdoor lawn and garden maintenance. These activities can exhaust and dehydrate them, causing them to develop heat-related illnesses such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.
Back injuries
Workers who do concrete or cement work on driveways, yards or sidewalks can strain their lower backs from doing repetitive motions of labor such as bending, lifting, pushing and pulling.
Aside from this, they can also injure their backs from common slip and fall hazards like wet or greasy floors, cluttered bricks and uneven pavements.
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL)
When workers handle power tools like leaf blowers, chainsaw and lawn mowers without wearing proper ear protection, the prolonged exposure to the tools’ loud noises can damage their inner ear and lead to noise-induced hearing loss.
Depending on the severity of damage, NIHL may be temporary or permanent.
How landscapers in Delaware can seek financial help
Under Delaware law, most employers must provide workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. This system allows workers to file a claim for their medical bills, lost wages and/or disabilities, regardless of fault.
By seeking prompt medical care for their work-related injuries and reporting their accidents to their employers within the 90-day deadline, they can file their claim without mistakes and receive their benefits on time.