Landscape Architect Articles

March 06 LSMP - Around the Grounds03-02-06 | News

Around the Grounds

Grounds Maintenance Occupations among Highest Rates of Workplace Alcohol Use

Workplace alcohol use and impairment directly affects an estimated 15 percent of the U.S. workforce (19.2 million workers) according to a study at the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions, reported in the Jan. issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol (Frone, M.R. Prevalence and distribution of alcohol use and impairment in the workplace.)

The results were obtained by telephone interviews from 2,805 employed adults. The author asserts this is the first study of workplace alcohol use to employ a representative probability sample of the U.S. workforce.

The broad occupation groups showing the highest rates of workplace alcohol use and impairment were the management occupations, sales occupations, arts/entertainment/sports/media occupations, food preparation and serving occupations, and building and grounds maintenance occupations. The study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Soldier Field, Chicago.

Turf Care 101, Soldier Field Style

The grounds crew at Chicago?EUR??,,????'?????<

John Nolan, Soldier Field’s head groundskeeper, had the field and sidelines sprayed with 480 gallons of green coloring, a nontoxic coloring used to color crayons.

Now if only the crew could mitigate the bone-chilling cold the players will likely face. It can. There are 40 miles of heat tubing beneath the turf that maintain a ground temperature of 68 degrees. So when you see players a little slow in getting up off the turf after a play, it?EUR??,,????'?????<

Kim Heck, CEO of the Sports Turf Managers Association

Changing Challenges for Turf Managers

Kim Heck, CEO of the Sports Turf Managers Association, spoke at the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation’s conference (December 5-7, 2006, Columbus, Ohio) on “The Future of the Sports Turf Industry.” Heck listed 10 trends she predicts will reshape the sports turf industry over the next decade:

Last summer seven states mandated watering restrictions. As potable water becomes scarcer and more expensive, the demand will grow for turf managers to find ways to use effluent water on athletic fields.
The U.S. Census projects the labor pool will continue to shrink.
Expect lighter mowing equipment with more efficient engines and more environmentally-friendly vehicles; improved turfgrass varieties more drought, pest and disease resistant, requiring less irrigation and chemical management; improvements in synthetic turfs will find most field managers caring for natural turf and synthetic turf fields.
More stringent environmental regulations.
More schools, cities and counties outsourcing athletic field management to companies specializing in sports turf care.
Consolidation of sports field management companies into more regionally focused businesses and consolidation of vendors and manufacturers of sports turf products and equipment. Field managers will probably be dealing with fewer suppliers in the future.
Field safety and liability protection will be increasingly important to turf managers.
With unused land more difficult to find field managers will need to help communities get the most use out of existing facilities.
Communicate with diverse populations.
Employers will demand field managers deliver great sports fields even while cutting budgets.

In conclusion, Heck believes expertise in agronomy and soil science is no longer enough. Successful field manager will need to ?EUR??,,????'?????<

For more information, visit STMA at sportsturfmanager.org