As mowing season quickly approaches, it’s important for maintenance and engineering managers to make sure that all grounds personnel are properly trained to operate all grounds equipment, particularly mowers, safely and efficiently.
A grounds crew was on a job when tragedy struck and an employee was found dead in a shallow pond with a lawnmower on top of him, police confirmed, according to WAVE 3 News in Kentucky.
Police identified Alejandro A. Avila, 46, of Shelbyville, as the victim. A representative of the lawn care company said coworkers saw the lawnmower, which Avila was riding, overturned in the water at the edge of a lake. They did what they could, but Avila did not survive.
If Avila was mowing along the edge of the water, the land is not stable there — it’s just too steep to put a mower on.
Police said Avila lost control of the mower and entered the water. Witnesses told police they found Avila with the mower on top of him, flipped over in the lake. The water in that area is just a few inches deep.
Ryan Berlin is digital content manager of Facilitiesnet.com.
