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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

FALLING LEAVES AND FALL STORMS MEAN FALL YARD CHORES
Think Safety with Outdoor Power Equipment

Alexandria, Virginia, September, 2001 -- In the fall there's plenty of use for outdoor power equipment: there are possibilities for flash floods, heavy rains, and hurricanes; and on top of that, of course, the leaves are falling. And, as wise homeowners know, there is a wide array of outdoor power equipment, both handheld and non-handheld, available to help them accomplish their clean-up chores quickly and efficiently. The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) wants to make sure these homeowners abide by all safety precautions. So, before cranking up their equipment, consumers should pay attention to OPEI's recommendations.

Each type of equipment comes with an owner's manual that includes recommended safety procedures. So, learning about and practicing safe use of these products is both easy and critically important to do.

Here's a rundown of just some of the popular types of equipment for this season (there are many more, of course), including some specific precautions that OPEI recommends:

Chipper/Shredders -- a wonderful tool for helping homeowners and professionals shred, grind, and pulverize a wide assortment of lawn debris such as leaves, twigs, hedge clippings, brush and branches. Provides an excellent alternative to trashing yard debris because these materials can be worked into an overall program of yard recycling, while decreasing the burden on America's landfills.

Chipper/Shredder operators should:

• Operate the machine on a level surface, not a paved or gravel surface. (Discharged material may bounce from a hard surface and cause personal injury.)
• Stand clear of the discharge area when operating equipment.
• Do not put face, hands, feet, or any part of body or clothing near the chute, hopper, or discharge area.
• If the machine becomes clogged, turn the machine off and disconnect the spark plug wire (unplug electric unit) before clearing debris.
• When feeding materials into the machine, be extremely careful that pieces of metal, rocks, bottles, cans, or other foreign materials are not included.
• Never transport or move equipment when engine is running.

Garden Tillers -- ideal tools for cutting and blending the soil to prepare for planting, and for working organic materials back into the earth.

A tiller user should:

• Always remove stones, tree trunks, large roots, or other debris from the area.
• Stop the tiller immediately and shut down if an object is hit.

Leaf Blowers -- there are hand-held and backpack gasoline engine-powered blowers, walk-behind blowers, and lawn vacuums with optional kits for conversion to blowers. This type of equipment makes it easy to get leaves and twigs off the lawn quickly.

The operator of a leaf blower should:

• Never allow bystanders in the work area.
• Never point the blower nozzle in the direction of people or pets.
• Use a dust mask in dusty or dirty conditions.
• Never operate in unventilated areas.
• And when it comes to sound, use good sense: work at reasonable hours; check local ordinances for operating times; lower throttle speed and use nozzle attachments to reduce sound levels.

Log splitters -- also come in handy for cleaning up fallen trees and making logs for the fireplace this winter.

The operator of the log splitter should:

• Always split wood in the direction of the grain, never across.
• Keep hands away from the ram, the wedge and partially split logs.

Some additional safety precautions not yet mentioned are very important, too, and they apply to all types of outdoor power equipment.

These are:

• Clear area of children and pets.
• Read the operator's manual and product decals before using the equipment, and be sure you understand the equipment's features and controls.
• Dress properly for the job -- wearing eye protection is recommended.
• Handle fuel carefully.

Fall can be a fun season for outside activities. And by following OPEI's recommendations on the use of outdoor power equipment, you can achieve the winning combination of a great yard, pride, good exercise and safety. And for even more information on safety, OPEI has a home page on the Internet at http://opei.mow.org

OPEI is a trade association whose membership is primarily composed of U.S. manufacturers of powered lawn and garden maintenance products, components and attachment supplies, as well as industry related services. OPEI's domestic members manufacture in excess of 95% of the U.S. consumer retail market for gas and electric powered lawn and garden maintenance products.

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