NEW ORLEANS -- Three landscape company employees have died in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas in the past month when riding mowers or tractors overturned into water or a stream bed, equaling the total in the previous six years, a federal safety official said.
Eric Harbin, acting regional administrator for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said there had been one such fatal accident in each of the years 2015, 2014 and 2010 in OSHA's Southwest Region, which also includes Oklahoma.
"Less than one a year, but suddenly, in less than a month, we've had three," Harbin said.
Harbin said OSHA is investigating all three fatal accidents.
Sammy Craig, 32, of Malvern, an employee for Land Design Inc. in Little Rock, died April 1 after he was trapped underneath a riding lawn mower that tipped over on a steep, grassy embankment and slid into a creek at an apartment complex in west Little Rock.
An employee of Clean Scapes LP of Austin, Texas, died March 21 when a mower overturned and pinned the rider in a ditch with about 2½ feet of water, and an employee of Bracy's Nursery LLC of Amite, La., died in the other accident April 5 when the worker's mower rolled over into a stream.
With the landscaping and mowing season picking up, Harbin cautioned employers and workers to pay attention to safety precautions for work on slopes and embankments. Precautions include keeping at least 5 feet away from any incline, if possible, and keeping ride-on mowers at least two mower-lengths away from water.
"It's a great option near water to use a traditional push-mower or a string mower," he said.
State Desk on 04/23/2016