According to the latest figures from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, more than 8,500 people were injured last year mowing grass. And whilst most of these are untrained amateurs, it's the professionals providing continuous grass cutting services, often in difficult cutting conditions on steep banks, who are in the front line of risking injury.

Professional horticulture and grounds maintenance organisations need to ensure their people are not just properly trained and qualified but also that they operate the safest and most suitable equipment for the job. The issues of health and safety are particularly acute when it comes to steep and inaccessible areas of semi-rough grass including roadside embankments, verges, waterworks, dams and golf course landscapes. One particularly unusual and problematic challenge was faced by Cannon Horticulture, whose Ministry of Defence contracts include military bases across Lincolnshire with unusually steep-sided munitions and fuel storage bunkers.

Historically, such work has required operatives to wear harnesses backed up by secure support structures. By its nature, the work had to be carried out infrequently due to the specialised and costly cutting techniques needed. For all these reasons, Cannon decided to set up its own rigorous re-assessment of the latest grass cutting machines by organising competitive trials at one of its contract sites. Ray Rushworth, managing director of Cannon Horticulture said, "Strimming steep banks is a major health and safety issue for everyone in our profession. It is relatively dangerous, labour-intensive and time consuming. As professionals, we needed to address these issues and therefore arranged some demanding demonstrations from suppliers at one of the bases we maintain."

As a result, the company opted for a solution which eliminated many of the safety and performance issues at a stroke. It has invested in the latest radio controlled, rotary mulching mower, the Ransomes Spider. The machine operates at speeds up to 8km/h with potential productivity of 7,500 square metres per hour and has 360 degree four-wheel steering.