How old is too old to shovel snow in Oregon? Safety tips for digging out of winter storm

With much of Oregon seeing some snow this week, residents should be prepared to deal with clearing it within 24 hours of a storm ending.

Cities in Oregon with snow removal ordinances, including Salem, Eugene, Portland, Corvallis and Bend, require property owners to clear away snow and ice from sidewalks and driveways.

But this can be a hazardous activity and isn’t safe for everyone.

The American Journal of Emergency Medicine reports that about 200,000 adults went to emergency rooms for snow shoveling accidents from 1990 to 2006, with more than 1,600 deaths.

How old is too old to be shoveling snow in Oregon?

Anyone older than 45 should be cautious, according to an American Heart Association spokesperson. People with conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure or high cholesterol should also be careful, along with people who smoke, are very inactive, are obese or are sedentary.

If you fall into these categories, you might consider hiring someone else to do the job.

But if that’s not a possibility, here are some tips to reduce the amount of exertion.

5 ways to make snow shoveling safer

1. Shovel in intervals rather than all at once. “If many inches are expected, shovel every few hours as the snow falls, rather than waiting until the end of the storm,” a Reddit user suggested.

2. Push the snow, rather than lifting and throwing. This works better with a lighter snow. Stand upright and push the snow to its disposal location. If needed, you can “kick the back of the shovel (to expel the snow) to avoid unnecessary bending,” a Redditor suggested.

3. Get an ergonomic shovel. “Those goofy looking bent-handle shovels are real back savers,” according to one Redditor tip.

4. Try a leaf blower. “Leaf blowers can be surprisingly effective if the wind is in your favor too.” This can work to reduce the amount of snow on top before going back with a shovel. This works better with a drier snow, rather than the wet spring snows.

5. Use a snowblower. Using a snowblower raises your heart rate to about 120 beats a minute, rather than the 170 beats per minute when shoveling, according to the American Heart Association.

How to optimize your shoveling routine in Oregon

Here are more tips from Reddit users to make lighter work of the task:

• “Spray the blade with cooking spray; snow slides right off.”

• “Keep the shovel cold so the snow slides off.”

• “I shovel early if possible and let the sun do the final cleanup.”

• “Plastic shovel only … Plastic moves much easier over concrete or asphalt than aluminum.”

• “Push with the blade at a diagonal to reduce snags on the concrete cracks.”

• Shovel soon after it snows, and especially before you start driving on the driveway. It’ll keep snow from getting packed down, which makes it harder to remove and can cause icy spots.

Be a good Oregon neighbor

Consider simply doing the favor for your elderly or immobile neighbor when it snows.

USA TODAY reporter Greta Cross contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Oregon snow, ice shoveling tips to know amid winter storm