When I worked at the City of Coquitlam parks department in 2014-2015, I had to deliver a lunch time safety talk. Afer some searching and delays, I finally found an excellent article in the February, 2013 Arborist News magazine called “Caring for your body“.
In the article, the author, Amanda Carpenter, refers to green industry workers as industrial athletes. She also mentions in the article that “your body is a money maker”, which got the lunch room laughing.
Shape
Staying in shape and taking care of my body is on my mind as I celebrate my birthday by publishing this blog post. I won’t shock you with any large round numbers. Let’s just say I am the second oldest worker in my company.
Earlier this year, our boss paid our entry fees for a trail race in North Vancouver. So, aside from team bonding, we all got a nice workout.
And then last week, spring hit hard with lawn lime application and aeration. Now you see how the boss was thinking about spring already.
iPhone data
Liming involves running a spreader loaded with lime over your lawns. There is some dust but mainly it’s just a dash to cover your lawns as quickly as possible.
Lawn aeration is a bit harder because it involves pushing a heavy aerator machine over your lawns. Both activities give you a nice workout; and both services are included in annual landscape maintenance contracts.
Looking at my iPhone health data, over four service days of liming I averaged 28,000 steps per day which translates roughly to 19km. So, of course I felt it by Friday evening.
If you’re wondering why I haven’t published more blogs in March, I was exhausted and probably napped after work.
City work effect
Incidentally, this Friday effect doesn’t really exist in municipal parks departments. I’ve experienced it personally: coming home on Friday feeling fresh like I did on Monday. It’s true. Remember, city work is all about tax payers, not necessarily production. The parks department has an annual budget to blow; my private landscaping company must generate profits and it does when I run around.
Many workers who suffer in private industry, secretly and openly dream of landing municipal jobs.
Long year
It’s a long year out in the landscape so landscape professionals must stay in great shape. The article mentioned above is a must-read for all green industry workers. It really is true, landscape professionals are industrial athletes!
