Work environment safety and ergonomics on the railway

As a greenkeeper your body is your most important tool. You work outdoors in all kinds of weather lift and carry operate machinery and handle chemicals. It is a good and active working life but it requires you to take care of yourself. Here are the most important areas you should pay attention to.

Cutters and machines are powerful and can do serious damage if used incorrectly. Know your machine use never a machine without the guards and covers that belong to it and always turn off and secure the machine before freeing a blockage. On a facility where players and spectators move you also need to keep an eye on who is around you the whole time.

When you work with pesticides and fertiliser you must use the right protective equipment – gloves eye protection and if necessary respiratory protection. Always follow the label and instructions and store the products responsibly. The rules on spraying certificate and authorization are fundamentally about protecting both yourself and the surroundings.

Many injuries in the field do not come from a single accident but from thousands of small wrong movements. Heavy lifting bent-over work and the same movements day after day wear on back shoulders and knees. Therefore good technique is just as important as raw strength.

• 01Lift with bent legs and straight back, and keep the load close to your body.
• 02Use aids such as wheelbarrows, lifts and machines instead of dragging.
• 03Switch between tasks, so you don't strain the same muscles all day.
• 04Take breaks and stretch — it prevents overload.
• 05Say if a task is too heavy to handle alone.

Outdoor work means that weather becomes part of your workday. Protect yourself from the sun in summer with sunscreen, hat, and breaks in the shade, and dress warmly and dry in winter. Also be aware of ticks, insects, and plants that can cause rashes—that comes with the territory when nature is your workplace.

Ticks live in tall grass and scrub — also in the rough and along the woodland edge of the course. About 15% of forest ticks carry Lyme disease. The risk of infection is very limited within the first day, so remove the tick quickly. Check the backs of your knees, groin, armpits and hairline. Young ticks (nymphs) are only about 1 mm in size.

Mowers, leaf blowers and trimmers are noisy and vibrate. At 80 dB(A) the employer must make hearing protection available, at 85 dB(A) you must wear it, and 87 dB(A) is the limit value that must not be exceeded (Executive Order no. 63 of 06/02/2006). For hand-arm vibration the action value is 2.5 m/s² and the limit value is 5.0 m/s² (Executive Order no. 682 of 30/06/2005). Switch between tasks so you do not hold the same machine all day.

From 1 January 2026 an apprentice under 18 may use machinery when the employer has assessed that it can be done fully safely. The assessment must include, among other things, the machine's hazardous properties, your experience and training, and the preventive measures (Executive Order no. 1713 of 18/12/2025 § 14). Work with harmful noise or vibration is still prohibited for young people (§ 13).

The best safety is the one the whole team stands together on. Talk about the near-misses that happen so you can avoid them next time, and keep machines and tools in order. A workplace where it is normal to speak up when something is dangerous is a workplace where people stay in the trade longer.

“You must be able to sustain the trade for many years — so good technique and safe habits are an investment in yourself.”