Never underestimate the importance of the proper attire or equipment for the activities in which you choose to participate. Gloves can be just as crucial to a gardener as a parachute is to a skydiver. Safety first - not fourth.
Ordinarily you wouldn’t think of gardening gloves as a life-saving device, but when you take into account this one tiny hazard you could encounter while gardening or landscaping, you may just want to reconsider!
An article on tetanus in the May 21, 2008 edition of The Vancouver Sun proved to be a real eye opener to the dangers of gardening without gloves.
Cases of tetanus may be rare, however; the spores that cause it are everpresent in the organic material we like to dig around in - soil. You may not have cows wandering through your gardens leaving lovely manure deposits, but what about cats, dogs, raccoons and skunks? It’s all poop, people! Here’s a small excerpt from the article.
“Tetanus, also known as lockjaw because it causes muscle spasms that start in the jaw, is caused by a bacterium called Clostridium tetani, which thrives in dust and soil rich in organic matter such as animal manure.
The germs enter through skin breaks or wounds and once inside the body, produce a neurotoxin that leads to extreme muscle spasms.
That means an activity as seemingly safe as gardening can potentially be risky if a person has a small cut.
Vancouver Island public health official Dr. Richard Stanwick said people should not only get vaccinated, but should also wear gloves while digging around.”
If you are up to date with your immunizations and feel you have no need to worry over the life-saving aspect of wearing gloves, then at least wear them to save your hands!
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