Reminder: Slopes document now available

Ahead of the 2024 maintenance season, members are reminded the Association has recently released a code of practice document to instruct managers and operatives how to safely undertake landscape maintenance operations on slopes. 

The need for the document was identified using the Association’s own accident statistics as well as those of the Health and Safety Executive, which report landscape operatives suffer a disproportionately high number of accidents and near-misses when completing landscape maintenance tasks on slopes.

Research by the Association revealed incidents on slopes commonly involve one of 2 scenarios:

1. operator loses control of ride-on machinery

- machine loses traction or becomes unstable due to gradient
- machine over-turns with operator on-board

2. operator slips or trips whilst using pedestrian or hand-held equipment, resulting in

- operator falling
- operator losing control or struck by equipment

The information within the document is the combined knowledge and experience of established landscape contractors who, over decades, have developed techniques which have allowed them to consistently complete potentially hazardous tasks on slopes without incident.

The document covers operational issues associated with the use of ride-on machinery, such as lawn mowers and tractors, as well as pedestrian or hand-held equipment such as grass trimmers and knapsack spraying devices.

The full version of the document can be downloaded from the further reading section, below.

Further reading

Slopes code of practice document