Landscaping safety spans a large workforce, occupational injuries, fatal incidents, consumer equipment use and state workers’ compensation claims. The measures below distinguish occupations, industries, emergency-department estimates and fatal-case investigations across the United States and Ohio.
Key Landscaping Safety Statistics
The most useful landscaping safety figures include:
- In May 2019, 912,660 U.S. landscaping and groundskeeping workers were employed in the occupation.
- In 2019, 12,380 U.S. private-industry landscaping and groundskeeping cases required days away from work.
- In 2019, the days-away incidence rate was 185 cases per 10,000 full-time-equivalent workers in the U.S. occupation.
- In 2018, landscaping-services workers had 176.8 days-away cases per 10,000 full-time workers in the United States.
- In 2018, the landscaping-services fatal injury rate was 1.70 per 10,000 full-time workers in the United States.
- In 2019, sprains, strains and tears accounted for 3,140 days-away cases among U.S. private-industry landscaping and groundskeeping workers.
- In 2019, being struck by an object or equipment led to 2,680 days-away cases in the U.S. occupation.
- U.S. landscaping and groundskeeping workers had 124 fatal work injuries in 2019.
- In 2019, transportation incidents caused 49 landscaping and groundskeeping worker deaths in the United States.
- From 2011 through 2021, 1,072 work-related fatalities were reported in the U.S. landscaping and groundskeeping industry.
- In 2023, lawn and garden equipment caused an estimated 76,137 emergency-department-treated injuries in the United States and territories.
- In 2023, lawn mowers alone caused an estimated 70,381 emergency-department-treated injuries in the United States and territories.
- In 2023, an estimated 12,234 lawn-mower cases resulted in hospitalization or death on arrival in the United States and territories.
- From 2001 through 2017, Ohio landscaping workers’ compensation claims cost more than $226 million.
- From 2001 through 2017, lost-time claims were 18% of Ohio landscaping claims but represented 94.4% of claim costs.
- From 1987 through 2023, contact with objects and equipment represented 41 of 93 fatal FACE incidents involving U.S. landscaping and tree-care workers.
- In 2024, grounds maintenance workers had a fatal injury rate of 20.9 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers and 239 fatal injuries in the United States.
Contents
- Key Landscaping Safety Statistics
- Landscaping Workforce and Nonfatal Injury Statistics
- Landscaping Injury Data by Diagnosis, Body Part and Source
- Fatal Landscaping Safety Trends and Event Categories
- Lawn-Mower and Yard-Equipment Injury Statistics
- Ohio Landscaping Workers’ Compensation Costs and Trends
- Landscaping Fatality Patterns by Hazard and Worker Group
Landscaping Workforce and Nonfatal Injury Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 912,660 landscaping and groundskeeping workers in May 2019. The occupational measure covers workers in the occupation, not every employee at landscaping-service establishments, and the same BLS snapshot reported an average hourly wage of $15.56 and an average annual wage of $32,360; wages are economic measures rather than safety outcomes. BLS, “Landscaping and groundskeeping workers, 2015–2019”
In 2019, private-industry landscaping and groundskeeping workers recorded 12,380 nonfatal cases requiring days away from work, with a days-away incidence rate of 185 per 10,000 full-time-equivalent workers. The BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses covers recordable days-away cases and excludes injuries that do not meet its reporting criteria. BLS, “Landscaping and groundskeeping workers, 2015–2019”
A peer-reviewed comparison using 2018 landscaping-services industry data reported a days-away rate of 176.8 per 10,000 full-time workers, compared with 89.7 for all private industry. It also reported a landscaping-services fatal injury rate of 1.70 per 10,000 full-time workers, compared with 0.34 for all private industry; this industry definition is not the same as the BLS occupation definition above. American Journal of Industrial Medicine study
Landscaping Injury Data by Diagnosis, Body Part and Source
The 2019 days-away cases show several recurring injury dimensions. The selected BLS characteristics are not necessarily mutually exhaustive in presentation, so they should be read as category counts rather than summed into a new total.
| Measure | 2019 cases | Population and definition |
|---|---|---|
| Sprains, strains and tears | 3,140 | U.S. private-industry landscaping and groundskeeping days-away cases |
| Soreness and pain | 2,410 | Same occupation and case measure |
| Cuts and lacerations | 2,010 | Same occupation and case measure |
| Fractures | 720 | Same occupation and case measure |
The affected body-part counts included 1,840 hand injuries, 1,490 back injuries, 1,170 multiple-body-part injuries, 950 knee injuries and 750 ankle injuries. These are selected case characteristics from the 2019 BLS days-away table, not a complete injury census. BLS, “Landscaping and groundskeeping workers, 2015–2019”
The recorded sources and event descriptions also point to equipment, movement and outdoor exposure:
- Hand tools were the source in 2,040 days-away cases in 2019.
- Worker motion or position was the source in 1,660 cases.
- Vehicles were the source in 1,190 cases, while machinery was the source in 1,070 cases.
- Being struck by an object or equipment led to 2,680 cases.
- Animal- and insect-related incidents led to 1,160 cases.
All of these source and event figures refer to U.S. private-industry landscaping and groundskeeping days-away cases in 2019. BLS, “Landscaping and groundskeeping workers, 2015–2019”
Fatal Landscaping Safety Trends and Event Categories
BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries counts for landscaping and groundskeeping workers moved unevenly across 2015–2019 rather than following a simple annual direction.
| Year | Fatal work injuries | Geography and occupation |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 111 | United States landscaping and groundskeeping workers |
| 2016 | 125 | United States landscaping and groundskeeping workers |
| 2017 | 109 | United States landscaping and groundskeeping workers |
| 2018 | 142 | United States landscaping and groundskeeping workers |
| 2019 | 124 | United States landscaping and groundskeeping workers |
For 2019, transportation incidents caused 49 deaths, exposure to harmful substances or environments caused 29, and falls, slips and trips caused 26. Contact with objects and equipment caused 14 deaths.
The BLS tables may suppress some small event cells with dashes, which should not be interpreted as zero. BLS, “Landscaping and groundskeeping workers, 2015–2019”
A separate OSHA summary of BLS data reported 1,072 work-related fatalities from 2011 through 2021 in the U.S. landscaping and groundskeeping industry, including 142 fatal workplace injuries in 2021. Its industry scope differs from some occupation-based tables. OSHA, “US Department of Labor urges landscaping industry employers to stay focused on protecting employees from hazards as demands increase”
Lawn-Mower and Yard-Equipment Injury Statistics
Consumer-product injury estimates provide a different view from occupational records. The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s 2023 NEISS estimates cover emergency-department-treated injuries in the United States and territories, including consumer and work-related situations; they are not a count of all injuries.
Lawn and garden equipment produced an estimated 76,137 injuries, or 22.7 injuries per 100,000 population among all ages. Lawn mowers alone accounted for an estimated 70,381 injuries, with an all-ages rate of 21.0 per 100,000 population. CPSC, “NEISS Data Highlights – Calendar Year 2023”
The lawn-mower estimate included 38,288 injuries among people aged 25–64 and 25,114 among people aged 65 and older. By sex, the estimate included 56,024 male injuries and 14,357 female injuries.
Disposition estimates help separate emergency-department outcomes without treating disposition as a severity score:
- An estimated 58,148 lawn-mower cases were treated and released in 2023.
- An estimated 12,234 cases resulted in hospitalization or death on arrival.
NEISS figures are modeled estimates with sampling variability, and one injury can be counted in up to three product groups. Product-group estimates therefore should not be summed across groups. CPSC, “NEISS Data Highlights – Calendar Year 2023”
Ohio Landscaping Workers’ Compensation Costs and Trends
Ohio provides a claims-based state example rather than a national estimate. Researchers accepted 18,037 landscaping workers’ compensation claims from 2001 through 2017, including 3,311 serious injuries; in the cited classification, serious meant lost-time claims involving at least eight days away. American Journal of Industrial Medicine study
Serious claims rose from 16% of Ohio landscaping claims in 2001 to 21% in 2017. The study reported more than $226 million in Ohio claim costs over the period, with almost $214 million attributable to lost-time injuries and illnesses. NIOSH, “Workers’ Compensation Data Sheds Light on Hazards in Landscaping”
| Ohio measure, 2001–2017 | Reported result |
|---|---|
| Accepted landscaping claims | 18,037 |
| Serious claims | 3,311 |
| Total claim costs | More than $226 million |
| Lost-time injury and illness costs | Almost $214 million |
| Lost-time claims’ share of claims | 18% |
| Lost-time claims’ share of costs | 94.4% |
The large difference between claim share and cost share shows why frequency and financial impact are separate measures. These costs are incurred workers’ compensation costs in Ohio, not total societal costs, and the top-cost review described feet, knees, ankles, legs or toes frequently in serious injuries among the 100 most expensive claims; that review was a selected subset, not population prevalence. American Journal of Industrial Medicine study
Landscaping Fatality Patterns by Hazard and Worker Group
A NIOSH and state FACE synthesis covered 93 fatal incidents involving U.S. landscaping and tree-care workers from 1987 through 2023. FACE reports are a nonprobability fatal-case compilation designed for case investigation and prevention, not a national incidence rate.
| Event category | FACE incidents | Share of 93 incidents |
|---|---|---|
| Contact with objects and equipment | 41 | 44.1% |
| Exposure to harmful substances or environments | 21 | 22.6% |
| Falls, slips and trips | 21 | 22.6% |
| Transportation-related events | 10 | 10.8% |
Work-status information was incomplete for some FACE cases. Among the reported synthesis, full-time workers accounted for 56 deaths, volunteer or side-job workers for 12, temporary workers for 6 and seasonal workers for 3; these counts are not risk rates. Journal of Safety Research, “Fatal injuries among landscaping and tree care workers: Insights from NIOSH and state-based FACE reports”
The latest occupation figures supplied here use a broader BLS category. In 2024, U.S. grounds maintenance workers had a fatal injury rate of 20.9 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers and 239 fatal injuries, while first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service and groundskeeping workers had a rate of 12.3 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers and 33 fatal injuries.
Grounds maintenance is broader than landscaping alone, and the supervisor measure covers that supervisor occupation rather than the entire landscaping workforce. BLS, “Rate and number of fatal work injuries in selected occupations, 2024”