Spring Gardening Safety Alert

According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), home and garden accidents rise sharply in spring as people start gardening, DIY projects, and outdoor cleaning, because of
🌿 Prolonged bending or stooping – think weeding and planting
🌿 Repetitive movements – raking leaves or shoveling soil
🌿 Awkward or sustained postures – car washing or vacuuming those hard-to-reach corners
🌿 Lifting and carrying loads – bags of compost, plant pots, garden waste
🌿 Sudden increases in activity – doing a whole weekend of jobs your body hasn’t done for months!
 
How to protect your back
✔ Avoid prolonged bending or side-bending when working low down.
✔ Avoid loaded twisting – for example, don’t lift a bag of compost from the ground and twist to put it in the car boot. Turn your whole body instead.
And the most important tip…
!!! Don’t do anything for too long !!!
Take regular pauses. Stand up, put your hands on your hips, gently pull your shoulders and head back, and take a moment to admire your work.
 
A quick stretch can either:
• ease the tension
• or tell you your back has had enough of that job for today
It’s surprisingly easy to ignore the early signs when you’re absorbed in a task!