Abstract: A state highway road maintenance/grass cutting crew had just begin work at an intersection with a grassy island, a grassy median strip on one road, and grassy shoulders all around. The supervisor was using a weedeater on the median and Employee #1 and two coworkers were using Gravely walk-behind rotary self-propelled commercial mowers. The coworkers were on the island and Employee #1 was on a shoulder that included a drainage ditch. The mowers were designed with a 32 in. diameter blade cover that included a 360 degree skirt to fully enclose the blade to within 1 in. of the ground. About 8 in. of the right rear periphery of Employee #1's machine blade guard had been bent inward at the bottom from backing up over curbs, opening a 2 in. gap at the top. After about five minutes of mowing, he was backing his mower out of the ditch with his back to the intersection when something struck him in his right eye. His eyeball was cut and required stitches. An examination of the area a month later showed a few broken bottles in and around the ditch. Safety goggles or glasses were available but seldom to never used due to reported sweat, fog-up, and general discomfort. The bent guard was repaired the next day.