VGCSA Turf Management Safety DVD

 

Occupational health and safety has become a major focal point for the turf industry in recent times and many golf clubs have invested considerable amounts of time, effort and money into ensuring their facilities comply with the gamut of legislation now present.

One of the keys to ensuring a safe working environment is the continual education of course maintenance staff, especially those new to the industry. Working on a golf course poses a number of risks, whether it’s working with potentially dangerous machinery, working outdoors and being exposed to potential skin cancers, being knocked out by errant golf balls or using toxic chemicals as part of turf management spraying programmes.

Given the importance of OH&S, the Victorian Golf Course Superintendents Association has taken some positive steps towards helping inform those new to the profession of the risks associated with working in a golf course environment.

The brainchild of association committee member Trevor Uren, superintendent at Devil Bend Golf Club on the Mornington Peninsula, the VGCSA has produced a 15 minute Turf Management Safety DVD designed to give a quick and succinct overview of how to make the golf course working environment a safer place. Essentially the DVD acts as an induction programme for any new turf management employees, welcoming them to new workplace and then taking them through the day-to-day golf course maintenance tasks and the health and safety risks associated with them.

While not going into any huge detail, it does cover all the basic areas which for any new employee are critical to know and is designed to supplement the OH&S practices and policies that a golf club should already have in place. Topics covered in the DVD include:

• Machinery safety – pre-use checks, faults;
• Mowers – operating mowers and mowing on undulating surfaces;
• Herbicides and pesticides – handling and application, MSDS, spraying equipment;
• Golf balls – being aware of them and golfer movements;
• Moving vehicles – utilities, tractors and front end loaders, PTOs (as an aside there is a rather nice dramatisation of a long-haired turfie getting his locks caught in a PTO shaft). This section also looks at refueling and washing down machinery;
• Skin cancer – wearing protective clothing, taking precautions, and checking the body regularly;
• Hearing safety;
• Chainsaws, whipper snippers and brush cutters –wearing protective clothing, inspecting equipment;
• Manual handling – lifting and carrying; and
• Drugs and alcohol.

The DVD was filmed over one day last summer at Huntingdale Golf Club, the home of current VGCSA president Michael Freeman. Presented in association with Toro, the DVD has been compiled firstly as a resource for VGCSA members and since its release mid-way through this year has been distributed to all VGCSA Class A members. The NSWGCSA is also distributing it to members. The DVD is currently available through the AGCSA.