Eight Shoveling Safety Tips

Follow these shoveling safety tips when you move plants, re-establish gardens, or replant things. This is the advice that I give to many of my clients.

Wear Sturdy Shoes

• Wear sturdy shoes that allow you to transfer your force into the ground.

Choose the Right Shovel

• Use a sharp shovel that is the right height for you.
• At just under five-two, a short-handled shovel is perfect for me.
• For my taller clients, I would recommend that they use a longer handled shovel so that they can get up and behind the shovel.
• Because I’m not that tall, I use a short shovel.
• Anybody over five-seven using a short shovel will end up in a position where the shovel is below the height of their hip.
• You do not want to be in this position because you can’t get your body weight over the shovel.
• The handle of the shovel should be below your shoulder and above your hip. That is in your power zone.

Establish Your Power Zone for Shoveling

• Remove the earth or  gravel with your legs and less so with your back and your arms.
• If you lift with your back and arms your legs would be straight, forcing you to bend from the back and use your arms.
• You might not experience the detrimental effects of this within a day, but eventually you pay the consequences with your bones or discs.
• Use your legs to lift.
• If it’s a really heavy load, offset some of the weight onto your thigh as you’re coming up.
• Then keep that load as close as possible as you move your load.
• If you are moving the load in another direction,  always move your feet in the direction that you are going to drop the load, as opposed to just taking it and rotating from the body. That movement is to be a lot more harmful on your back.

That covers shoveling safety tips for your garden.