Safety knives

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What is a safety knife?

Safety knives, also known as safety cutters, are cutting tools designed with safety features that minimize the risk of injury to the user or damage to the material being cut. These knives are commonly utilized in various workplaces, including manufacturing, packaging, shipping, and warehousing industries, where cutting tasks are prevalent.

Safety knives incorporate multiple safety features, including retractable blades, rounded or blunt tips, and ergonomic handles that ensure a secure grip. Certain models incorporate locking mechanisms designed to prevent unintentional blade exposure, along with blade guards that safeguard the user against accidental cuts.

Various categories of safety knives exist, including fixed-blade knives, folding knives, and disposable knives. Certain safety knives are engineered for particular applications, including the cutting of cardboard, the opening of packages, or tearing of plastic straps.

Why you should provide your employees with safe knives

Hand knife injuries often occur during work, when a knife slips while cutting or trimming. In most cases, the blade cuts the user’s other hand. Injuries also occur on other parts of the body, such as the thigh.

Give your staff the most suitable knife for their task to guarantee a safe workplace and avoid knife-related injuries. Moreover, safety knives stop items from becoming ruined while opening packaging. Companies ought to supply safety knives and teach staff members to guarantee a safe workplace.

Safety knives are becoming more widespread and important for the workplace. Such knives are common among workers in delivery and logistics departments, warehouses and stores. Safety knives and cutters are used for opening packages and boxes, cutting strapping material, tapes, tearing shrink wrap, cutting and disposing of packages and much more. 

Using a safety knife can help reduce the risk of injuries in the workplace and increase productivity by allowing workers to cut materials more quickly and efficiently.

Choosing the right safety knife for the job is very important to ensure that the worker gets the job done correctly and safely.

• Answer the following questions to find the appropriate knife for the cutting task:
• What material will you cut?
• How deep should the cut be?
• What kind of blade is required does it fit your purpose?

We can roughly classify safety knives into 3 types:

• safety knives with automatic blade retraction
• safety knives with fully automatic blade retraction
• safety knives with concealed blades

Safety Knives with Automatic Blade Retraction

Users are guaranteed a high level of safety with safety knives that feature automatic blade retractions. Blade disappears into handle immediately upon removal of forefinger from slider. Additionally, the blade of these safety knives is automatically retracted, which eliminates the possibility of an accidental injury to oneself or another if the knife is left on a table or in a drawer with the blade extended.

Safety knives with an automatic retractable blade that we highly recommend:

• Martor Secunorm 380, 500, 540, Secunorm Mizar
• Mure & Peyrot Grepin 1426, Jalle 1422
• Slice Industrial knife 10559
• Sollex Prosafe safety knife 1400

Safety knives with fully automatic blade retraction

The distinction between the aforementioned safety knives with automatic blade retraction is that completely automatic blades retract into the handle upon exiting the material, regardless of whether the operator continues to press the slider or pull the trigger. This safeguards the user against laceration in the event of a slip, as the blade instantaneously retracts into the holder.

However, be aware that if the material being cut shifts or vibrates, utilizing this sort of knife will be challenging, since the blade will shift with each movement, complicating the cutting process.

Safety knives with a fully automatic blade retraction that we highly recommend:

• Martor Secupro 625, Secupro Martego
• Slice utility knife 10554

Safety Knife with a Concealed Blade

Safety knives with concealed blades are generally considered the safest utility knives. The reason they are so safe is that only a small part of the blade can be seen and used for cutting. The rest of the blade is covered or protected from the user. This design keeps the knife blade from touching the person using it. Because the form of this type of enclosed blade safety knife is like a hook, the person using it can't get hurt while cutting. Not only will this kind of safety knife protect the worker, it will also protect the things that are in boxes and packages. This keeps the things safe from damage and keeps people from getting cut.

This form of safety knife is available with replaceable concealed blades, which allows for the replacement of the entire head, or solid disposable knives that lack the ability to replace the blade. Safety knives with disguised blades range from simple disposable knives to knives with replacement concealed blades and food safety knives detectable by metal detectors.

Safety knives with a concealed blade that we highly recommend:

• All Martor Secumax serie: Martor Secumax 145, 150, 320, 320 MDP (metal detectable), 350, Martor Secumax Easysafe
• Klever Kutter, Xchange, Xchange Plus
• Sollex safety cutter - disposable

Metal-detectable knives for food and pharmaceutical industries

Products within the food and pharmaceutical sectors must be free from any particles of foreign materials that may have been inadvertently introduced during the manufacturing process. Contamination occurring during the manufacturing process has the potential to cause significant harm to equipment, demand product recalls, and, in severe instances, result in harm to customers. The outcome includes elevated expenses and a potential reputational risk that warrants careful consideration. Manufacturers are required to utilize specialized equipment designed for the detection of metal to prevent this issue. A small piece of plastic from a safety knife composed of metal detectable plastic can be identified using a metal scanner or X-ray machine, allowing for its removal from the final product.

Food manufacturers specifically mandate that all tools utilized in the hygiene area be constructed of metal. The final product must be subjected to x-ray examination to ensure that it contains only food items within the package. Metal detectable safety knives and plastic handles are utilized due to their identification features.

Sollex recommends the following metal-detectable safety knives:

• Klever Kutter KCJ-1MD
• Martor Secumax 320 MDP, Secunorm Smartcut MDP, Secunorm Profi 25 MDP
• Mure & Peyrot Pyla

Basic rules for the safe handling of knives in the workplace

1. The key rule in safe knife handling is to change the blunt blade on time! The duller the blade, the less safe the knife becomes, because the user will apply more force and pressure to cut the material. Therefore, it's important to monitor this situation and maintain a stock of new blades, enabling your employees to replace the dull blade when necessary.
2. It is necessary to choose a suitable knife for the task to be performed. It may be that several knives will be used on the same job for a number of different tasks. There are different types of work knives, so provide your employees with ones that are adapted to their work processes.
3. Utility knives should be checked periodically to make sure they are safe for use and have no obvious defects.
4. You should also establish whether your employees' knives are personal or for shared use. It is safer to provide work knives for employees' personal use so that they always have the right tools for the job, rather than having to find the right tool or cut with the wrong tool.
5. Provide workers with personal protective equipment ( PPE ) that will protect the user from health or safety risks at work. It can include items such as gloves, mittens, and eye protection.
6. Good lighting, waste boxes, and good housekeeping are important factors in knife safety.
7. A serious stab wound can cause severe bleeding. Immediate first aid can save a life. At least one person in the company who is trained in first aid for stab wounds and severe bleeding must be present to provide first aid.

Best knives for warehouse work

As a general recommendation:

• To cut tape or open cardboard boxes. A pelican-shaped safety knife where the user cannot access the knife blade. The safety knives Martor 150001, Martor 350001, Klever Kutter KCJ-1Y or Klever Xchange KCJ-XC-20Y open taped cartons faster, safer and better than other knives. In addition to protecting the user, the contents of the carton are protected.
• To cut cardboard, Martor 625001, 54000410 or 380001 is recommended. Cut the cardboard at the edge at a 45 degree angle on the handle to the cardboard. Load as long a part of the knife blade as possible. Then the box is cut instead of being pressed.
• Pelican knife for robust materials in a storage environment. Our most robust pelican knife is Mure & Peyrot Grepin 1426. Robust and sturdy in magnesium. In addition to the pelican knife, 1426 has a standard knife in the rear that is good for cutting cardboard or cutting plastic straps.

Best knives to cut plastic straps

Thin straps in plastic are easily cut with a pelican knife. Martor 150001 or Klever cutter KCJ-1Y works great for cutting thin straps. Coarser plastic straps need to be cut with scissors or cut with longer knife edges. Then Martor 380001 or Mure & Peyrot Grepin 1426 may be suitable. For metal straps, use sheet metal scissors.