Safety Posts
Heat, hydration and fatigue
By Cotney Consulting Group. Tips for protecting outdoor crews during long workdays. Outdoor work has always demanded toughness, but toughness should never be confused with ignoring the warning signs of heat stress. Landscaping crews, hardscape installers, pool and spa technicians, sports-surface contractors, lighting installers and maintenance teams often spend ...
Before you dig
By Cotney Consulting Group. Utility locating, trenching and excavation safety. Outdoor contractors break ground every day. Landscapers install drainage and irrigation. Lighting contractors bury cable. Pool and spa crews run plumbing and electrical lines. Hardscape contractors excavate for walls, patios and outdoor structures. Sports-surface crews prepare bases and install underground ...
When employees don’t follow workplace safety rules
By Cotney Consulting Group. By working together, employers and employees can create a culture of safety that ensures everyone returns home safely at the end of the day. Workplace safety rules are put in place to protect employees from potential hazards and risks. However, despite these rules being implemented, employees may not ...
When the heat takes over
By Cotney Consulting Group. How extreme temperatures increase jobsite risk. Extreme heat doesn’t usually cause the first mistake on a job. It causes the second one. The missed step. The rushed movement. The decision felt fine at the moment, but it wasn’t. Crews understand heat. They work through it every ...
Ladder safety: Getting the basics right across every trade
By John Kenney, Cotney Consulting Group. Consistent ladder safety protects your people, your productivity and your reputation. Walk any outdoor jobsite — whether it's a landscaping project, a tile installation, a lighting upgrade, a pool equipment repair or an outdoor living build — and you’ll see the same tool used in all ...
Watch your step
By John Kenney, Cotney Consulting Group. Fall prevention and trip hazards across outdoor worksites. Whether you're installing tile, setting pavers, running conduit for outdoor lighting, maintaining athletic turf or building a pergola, every trade shares the same silent threat: uneven, unpredictable walking surfaces. Most contractors think of fall hazards as working ...
Walking-working surfaces: The everyday hazards that put crews at risk
By John Kenney, Cotney Consulting Group. Across all industries, slips, trips and falls are a leading cause of injury. In outdoor construction and maintenance, the risk increases exponentially. On any outdoor jobsite — whether you’re building a patio, running electrical lines, maintaining irrigation, installing tile or servicing a pool — workers spend ...
Staying grounded: Safe material handling for tile and stone work
By John Kenney, Cotney Consulting Group. In tile and stone work, safety and craftsmanship are inseparable — and both begin with staying grounded. Walk onto any tile or hardscape job, and you’ll see craftsmanship in motion — crews lifting heavy stone, moving pallets of pavers or setting large-format tiles with precision. ...
The hidden strain
By John Kenney, Cotney Consulting Group. Preventing back and knee injuries in hardscape work. Hardscape work demands skill, strength and precision. Every day, crews lift stone, carry pavers, kneel on rigid surfaces and maneuver awkward loads into place. It’s some of the most physically demanding work in the outdoor living industry — ...
Electrical awareness for maintenance technicians
By John Kenney, Cotney Consulting Group. When maintenance technicians operate with consistent awareness, they protect not only themselves but also every person who relies on the systems they maintain. If there’s one area of maintenance work that demands absolute respect, it’s electricity. Technicians work around it every day — replacing lighting, ...
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