Login

USERNAME
PASSWORD

Become a Registered Guest Login Help Lost Password?

Contact: Ilene Manster
Phone: (800) 395-2522
E-mail: ilenemanster@landcarenetwork.org

For Immediate Release

PLANET DEVELOPS BILINGUAL DEFENSIVE DRIVING TIPS SHEET

Herndon, VA, December 1, 2005 — The Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) is pleased to announce that it has produced a new bilingual (English/Spanish) Safety Tips Sheet entitled “Driving Defensively to Reduce the Risk of a Motor Vehicle Crash.”

Motor vehicle accidents (including trucks, trailers, cars, and truck-trailer combinations) are a primary injury/claims cost driver for companies in our industry. In addition to resulting in potentially costly insurance claims for company owners, motor vehicle crashes often result in disabling injuries, and even death, for employees. “Motor vehicle crashes are of particular concern to landscape and lawn care company crew members because of the amount of time spent on the road traveling from job site to job site,” says Barb Mulhern, PLANET safety specialist. “Yet most motor vehicle accidents can be prevented when workers are trained on the importance of safe driving in a language and manner they understand.”

This Safety Tips Sheet, developed as a product of the PLANET/OSHA Alliance, is a one-page script that can be downloaded from PLANET’s Web site and be used to train workers on anticipating potential driving hazards, being alert to such hazards, and taking other critical safe driving steps. This new Tips Sheet is available in English or Spanish to the entire green industry.

Motor vehicle crashes have been identified by the PLANET/OSHA Alliance as one of four major hazards facing workers in our industry. PLANET also has developed English/Spanish Safety Tips Sheets on two of the other identified hazards — slip and trip injuries and lifting-related injuries. A Safety Tips Sheet on the fourth identified hazard — amputations — will be developed during the first quarter of this year.

To access the Safety Tips Sheets, visit PLANET’s Web site at: landcarenetwork.org, then click on “Programs,” then on “Safety Programs.” You will find the Tips Sheets under “OSHA Alliance Program.”

For more information on the material contained in these Tips Sheets, please contact PLANET Safety Specialist Barb Mulhern at barbmulhern@landcarenetwork.org.

PLANET represents approximately 4,300 green industry service provider companies and suppliers nationwide that specialize in design/build/installation, interior plantscaping, landscape management, and lawn care. These firms and their employees represent more than 100,000 green industry professionals.