Snow Shoveling Safety Tips

By Anthony

Tips for increased safety when it comes to shoveling snow 

Safety is important when it comes to shoveling snow. There are many ways you can hurt yourself and the goal here is to give you tips to help avoid injury.

When it comes to shoveling snow there is a physical factor as it takes a lot of energy and strength to clear snow. Warming up your muscles is a great way to start before even going outside. This can be through light movements, stretches, walking on the spot, etc.

Pushing the snow is a great way to start. Remember to ensure you are pushing small amounts of snow at a time. The further you go the heavier it’s going to get. Limit the distance you cover with each push & let the shovel do the work.

Ensure you have the right tools available. Pushing and lifting with the same shovel can end up with you overexerted as each shovel design has it’s own purpose. See, Choosing The Right Shovel

Take Breaks! It’s important you take breaks as needed to prevent yourself from over-doing it. Grab some water, sit down for a little bit, I promise the snow is not going to go anywhere while you take a break.

Shovel at different times. Break up your shoveling efforts into multiple time slots so that you’re never stuck moving large amounts but instead smaller amounts as the snow continues to fall. This will take more time but will reduce the load on you.

Shovel sooner than later. Shoveling shortly after the snow stops falling is the most ideal as it is fluffiest and lightest. The longer the snow stays on the ground it begins to get heavier and can even start to ice-over causing a new hazard.

Dress Appropriately. Dress accordingly to the weather as you can end up spending a good amount of time outside and want to protect yourself as much as possible from the cold weather conditions.