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Consumer and commercial power lawnmower standards

Summary OSHA told regional administrators that staff had applied its consumer lawnmower rule to commercial machines. It said the consumer mower provision applied only to consumer models used by employees, while commercial mowers fell under the general machine guarding rule, with an industry standard useful for evaluating hazards and abatement. OSHA now archives the memo as potentially outdated.
Document
Federal opinion letter
Agency
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Document number
1986-11-10-0
Date issued
November 10, 1986
Status
Archived by the agency
OSHA archives this memorandum and says it may no longer represent OSHA policy.
Status last verified October 10, 2026
Topics
Workplace Safety OSHA 1910 Machine Guarding
Source
View the official document

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OSHA archives this memorandum and says it may no longer represent OSHA policy. It may no longer reflect the agency's current position. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance, and verify current law before relying on anything here.
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NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

November 10, 1986

MEMORANDUM FOR: REGIONAL ADMINISTRATORS

FROM: JOHN B. MILES, JR., DIRECTOR
DIRECTORATE OF FIELD OPERATIONS

SUBJECT: Misapplication of Power Lawnmower Standard 29 CFR
1910.243(e).

It has been brought to our attention that in some instances the OSHA standard for consumer type power lawnmowers at 1910.243(e) have been cited by field staff when inspecting commercial lawnmowers.

The OSHA standard at 1910.243(e) derived from ANSI B71.1-1968 pertains only to consumer type lawnmowers used by employees. Commercial type lawnmowers are covered under 29 CFR 1910.212(a)(1) and (a)(3)(ii).

When inspecting commercial type lawnmowers under 1910.212, industry consensus standards should be used to verify hazards, industry knowledge, and appropriate abatement. Whenever an employee hazardous exposure is identified relative to a commercial type lawnmower, ANSI B71.4-1984, Safety Specifications for Commercial, Turf Care equipment should be referred to.

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