Posts Tagged ‘Knives’

Safety Knives At Work – How To Lower The Number Of Knife Injuries At Work

April 29th, 2012

There’s no doubt that safety knives play a crucial role in safety at work, but what proportion of accidents at work would you guess were knife related? Surprisingly recent statistics show that knife injuries account for between 25% and 50% of all accidents at work which result in the employee requiring time off. That’s an astonishing statistic, and one work thinking about.

By looking at the role safety knives play, and thinking about how they can be employed in conjunction with personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety policies it is very possible to cut back the number of injuries at work requiring time off by up to half. That would not only be a superb result as far as the safety and welfare of employees is concerned, but it is likely to have a very positive effect on the running costs to the business too.

Of the accidents at work caused by knives almost 90% result in an injury to the upper body, with just over half of all knife injuries causing damage to the fingers.

A third of accidents cause damage to the arm, with feet, toes and legs all featuring in the statistics enough to cause concern. Most of the time knife accidents result in lacerations of one kind or another, and to varying levels of severity, but 6% of injuries are stabbings – accidental it is hoped.

So what can be done to reduce or eliminate these accidents? Are safety knives all it takes or is there more to it than this? There is no doubt at all that safety knives do play a very significant role in helping to reduce knife accidents, and with a very wide range of expertly designed safety knives now available there’s little reason for anyone to still be using open bladed, pointed knives in the majority of cases.

Many safety knives now include retractable blades, and in some cases the blade is only exposed once the handle is being held.

A trigger which contains a spring will push the blade out or draw back the sheath, which means that in cases where the employee loses their grip or drops the knife the blade is automatically retracted. This helps to protect against leg and foot injuries in many cases, although it may not always be enough, and is unlikely to be appropriate in all situations.

It’s important to bear in mind that in addition to providing appropriate safety knives at work it is also important to think about related PPE equipment. This might include safety gloves which help to protect against cutting or stabbing. In some cases arm protection or wrist protection may be needed in addition to gloves protecting the hand, and leg protection in the form of chain aprons may also prove to be helpful in lowering the number of knife related accidents. As well as blades which do not have a pointed tip, or which retract or sheathe the blade when dropped, wearing proper foot protection will also be valuable. Open toed sandals and thin trainers or shoes will offer little protection, whereas leather boots or steel capped boots will offer better protection.

In any business where knives are needed it will be essential to have a clear policy on the use of knives at work, in order to prevent silly, unnecessary injuries such as those caused by people walking about with exposed blades, or having them in belts or pockets not designed for the job. It is also highly advisable to have a policy in place which means that each safety knife is loaned to one individual, who is then responsible for the care and use of the knife. Finally, it’s always work re-evaluating the tasks which require safety knives in the first place, in case there is any way in which the manufacturing process can be altered or adapted to warrant the use of knives unnecessary, or at least reduced.

 

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Developing A Policy Covering Safety Knives For Work

October 22nd, 2011

There is today fortunately a wide range of excellent safety knives for work, all of which incorporate several key features designed to minimize the potential risks involved in using open blades in the work place. Although it is clearly preferable to try to identify ways in which the use of knives in the work place can be eliminated through alternative manufacturing processes or packaging materials, there are occasions when it is simply impossible to completely remove the need for knives and other bladed implements. In these cases, as well as using safety knives for work which help to reduce risks and hazards, it is also essential to make sure that adequate policies are put into place.

Although the word policy can tend to suggest paperwork which sits in a manager’s filing cabinet until there’s an accident, it should be noted that in the case of knives in the work place any and all safety policies governing any aspect of knives should be enforced, and reinforced, on a regular basis.

There is little point in having a safety policy if staff are not made fully aware of it, trained to understand and implement the policy requirements, and are regularly reminded and monitored to ensure that the principles of the policy are put into place.

It should be noted that quite apart from this approach making sense to anyone with a genuine interest in reducing the level of risk and the number of accidents and injuries in the workplace each year, if an accident does occur then the employer may be liable if it can be shown that they did not make sufficient effort to implement and enforce the safety policy regarding the use of knives in the workplace.

So what elements should be included in any policy regarding the use of knives and blades at work? As a guide, the policy should include the following practical points, wherever this is at all possible.

All open bladed knives of any description should be completely banned. If there are any such blades or knives still stored on site then these should be removed and safely disposed of in the appropriate manner. Staff should be instructed never to introduce their own blades or knives for any reason, and no orders should be placed by anyone for such knives.

There are many types of safety knives for work which means that there will certainly be a form of safety knife for each and every need and task. Staff should be made very clear that these safety knives are the only type of knife to be used. It should be made explicitly clear under the policy who has responsibility for the various aspects of enforcing the policy, training staff, monitoring knife use and purchasing appropriate safety knives for work. Clear training requirements should be detailed in the policy, including the type of training, the frequency of training and who will be required to undertake this training, Auditing of such training should also be included as a specific element within the policy.

Details of the type of safety knives which can and should be ordered or used within the workplace should be included, as well as details on who will be responsible for looking after and storing these knives when not in use. Clear instructions or guidance should be included which details precisely who will be responsible for verifying the safety of any knife used in the workplace, including what procedures should be followed in the event that a knife is found to be worn or faulty in any way.

Although safety knives for work are now helping to significantly lower the number of injuries each year in the workplace, having a clear and explicit policy, and making sure that policy is implemented fully is essential in helping to maximise the effect of having safety knives at all.

 

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Work Safety Knives – A Holistic Approach To PPE Equipment Integration

September 19th, 2011

Although there’s little doubt that work safety knives make a huge difference in helping to lower the number of work related injuries each year, there are a number of problems which still need to be addressed. Relying on work safety knives to help reduce the number of injuries and accidents isn’t always enough, and there are several steps which it will be important to follow in order to help make sure that the implementation of such knives is as effective as it ought to be.

It’s very much the same story with most PPE equipment, or personal protective equipment, as a number of workplaces do tend to see the use of such equipment as being the primary way to reduce accidents and injuries, and even the only way in some cases. This leads employees to demonstrate an exaggerated level of confidence, and this can not only result in accidents occurring, but it can in some circumstances actually raise the number of injuries and accidents at work.

So focussing just on work safety knives let’s examine the ways in which these should be integrated into a more holistic approach to safety in the workplace where knives and cutting is concerned and needed.

Assessment of Needs & Requirements
One of the first things that should be done is to identify the actual need for a knife in the first place.

It may well be that a task has been done a particular way for years, and that by using safety knives the risk is reduced, but in many cases the risk can actually be eliminated entirely.

By changing the way products are packaged, by improving machine cutting accuracy, using different materials or different procedures it has been the case in many businesses that the need for workers to use knives to either unpack materials, trim edges or carry out other operations has been removed.

Although it may not always be the case that the need for using a knife can be removed, it may be the case that the need can be significantly reduced.

By looking at why a knife is needed in the first place, and asking whether established procedures, methods, machinery or materials can be altered to reduce or remove the need for knives at all it may well be possible to remove the need for them, or at least to reduce the need for their use.

PPE Clothing
Whilst the use of work safety knives can help to reduce the number of injuries and accidents, and reduce the severity of any injuries which do occur, there is always more that can be done, and that should be done, to help protect workers. One element of this is to identify suitable personal protective clothing which can be worn whilst using a knife.

The type of clothing will very much depend upon the type of knife being used, the type of material being cut, the amount of cutting required, the angle of cutting and other circumstances, but a few options might include safety gloves, arm protection, chain aprons to protect the torso and legs, and foot protection such as steel capped boots or thick leather boots or shoes.

Policies & Procedures
Where knives are required in the workplace there should always be clear, established and enforced policies regarding their use and storage. Most businesses find that it is best to issue work safety knives to people on an individual basis, so that they are personally responsible for the safety an storage of their knife. This means that worn, broken or defective knives are noticed and removed from service more quickly than if all knives are kept in a central location from which people will choose almost at random.

There should also be policies in place to protect against people walking around with knife blades exposed, and suitable equipment provided for the storage of knives, such as a belt harness. A policy should be established so that employees have a clear guide for what to do in events where a knife has been determined to be defective, worn, broken or damaged in any way, ensuring that the knife is removed from service and a replacement obtained.

By looking at a range of areas it is often the case that the implementation of work safety knives can be made to have an even greater effect on the overall reduction in the number of accidents and injuries in the workplace.

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