Stay safe in the garden this summer

WITH summer fast approaching, with it will hopefully come even hotter weather.
And this will lure people into the garden armed with mowers, strimmers and power tools.
But SWALEC is warning gardeners in the Cynon Valley that their pastime could be riskier than they think.
Latest Government figures report that an average of 50 people in the UK are killed each year from garden accidents and 300,000 visit Accident and Emergency wards with gardening-related injuries - 6,500 of which are caused by electric lawn mowers.

Due to these statistics, SWALEC's safety manager Gary Barnes is urging valley gardeners to take simple safety steps to avoid turning a day in the flowerbed into a week in a hospital bed.
"Using electrical equipment in your garden can take the backache out of gardening, but it only takes a minor lapse in concentration to cut through an electric cable with a lawnmower or hedge trimmer, with major consequences," he said.
Before you start, check that electrical equipment has been stored safely and look for frayed cords, broken plugs and cracked or broken housings.
For more details visit www.hse.gov.uk/electricity or www.swalec.co.uk