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Health & Safety – Employees
Spring is a busy time and businesses may require more employees. Employers have several responsibilities towards the staff they employ under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974;
- Working alone: when leaving staff to work alone a risk assessment should be done to consider the following; their suitability for the task, experience, risk of injury, manual handling required and what safeguards can be put in place.
- PPE: Employers must provide enough PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) free of charge to workers exposed to a workplace risk that cannot be controlled or improved any other way.
Weed Identification:
The ability to spot your ‘cats ears’ from a dandelion or Cow parsley from the dangerous Hemlock can save time, money and even injury - quite apart from instilling that air of professionalism in front of clients.
The reduction in chemicals available to the landscape professional plus a downward trend in the amount of active ingredient in a product means fewer “good for everything” weedkillers so correct timing and identification of weeds is increasingly important. The advice to spray when weeds are young but actively growing has never been so true.
There are a number of Weed id ‘apps’ for smart phones - two with an agricultural focus are ‘Weed Spotter’ from Bayer and ‘Weed ID’ from BASF that are handy to have on site for ready reference. Alternatively, an emailed photo to your friendly sponsors of LJN will normally yield an answer!
Soil Analysis
Fertilising lawns and grassland areas can sometimes be more luck than judgement. Environmental considerations, such as; excess nitrogen or leaching of phosphorous in to the water ways must now be of equal importance to concerns of over-application, wastage and profit loss. A simple £20+ soil analysis will not only convince your customers you have their best interests at heart but will likely save on wasted fertiliser. Too often we hear of companies who use the same grade fertiliser on the same patch of grass every year without fail. Sulphates (ammonium, potash, etc) in excess can acidify soils to levels only seen on golf courses. Acidic soil can alter the chemical balance to the point where zinc, copper and iron become available to the roots in super-concentrated, toxic levels – killing off the grass – patch by patch.
Analysis is done by professional laboratories and some companies, such as Progreen, follow up the results with a recommendation for treatment – specifying products, application rates and amounts – potentially saving money, time and ensuring the long-term health of the turf………one more in a list of things to think about for the year ahead…
(image: Bristly ox-tongue or sow thistle..?)
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