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Originally published in Industrial Safety & Hygiene News April 2006
If you don’t think that utility knives and blades make a major impact on your plant’s productivity and safety record, think again. The good news is that newer, innovative blades are rapidly changing the way managers perceive these ubiquitous hand tools.
According to statistics from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 39 percent of the 330,000 medically-treated injuries attributed to manual workshop tools in the United States involved knives and retractable blades. Such injuries occur may occur from blades that break, accidental cuts while changing blades, and the mishandling of utility knives. |
Cutting Everywhere
Have you noticed all of the applications around your facility that require cutting with a utility knife? They may include opening wrap, opening boxes, trimming wire, cutting production material, fixtured cutting in the assembly process and general maintenance cutting. Almost all Associates have something to cut. Utility knives are never further away than their pocket or tool belt. Unfortunately, this most common of tools is also one of the most ineffective and dangerous. And, since nothing has changed in years we often take these tools for granted.
High Costs of Cutting - Lost Productivity
The expectations are low for traditional carbon steel utility blades. Your Tool Crib Manager constantly dispenses these relics throughout the day to frustrated Associates who stop working to turn them around, change them out and then, come back for more. Blade changes can be an onerous process lasting anywhere from 30 seconds for a simple turn around, to over two minutes for a full blade substitution. That’s 335 precious hours for a facility that uses 10,000 blades a year.
Safe Cutting Practices:
- Always wear safety glasses
- Wear protective gloves, especially on hand that holds the work-piece to be cut
- Always use a sharp blade
- Make sure footing is secure and stable
- Pull the knife toward you when cutting on a flat surface
- Keep your free hand (non-cutting) away from the line of cut
- When using a straight edge to cut, clamp it securely
- Never make a blind cut. Always check the length of the cut to ensure a clear path
- Change your blade whenever it starts to tear the work piece
- Pure carbon steel blades are brittle and shatter easily. Don’t bend them or apply side loads to them by using them to pry objects loos
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High Costs of Cutting - Safety Hazards
Cutting is a dangerous operation. As carbon steel blades dull Associates press harder, exposing them to an injury from their cutting hand slipping off of the work-piece, or more seriously, the exploding blade. Risk of getting cut is never higher than during blade changes when Associates directly handle blades. As a result of these phenomena cuts top the list of workplace injuries recorded in plants and facilities today. You pay the price in terms of lost-time, insurance fees, and other liabilities. The good news is that utility blades have improved. You can reduce the risk of injury just by changing the tools you use (and by employing Safe Cutting Practices – see inset).
Bi-Metal Utility Blades – Cutting Edge Solution
Two metals fused through electro-beam welding combine to form bi-metal utility blades. One of the metals is a high speed steel that yields sharpness; the other is a flexible spring steel that flexes but will not break. These bi-metal utility blades have a significantly longer life translating to a sharper edge for your Associates and fewer blades utilized. Linda Hobbs, Purchasing Supervisor at Vantage Industries (a division of Leggett & Platt) has seen strong productivity increases in her facility.
”At Vantage Industries, a division of Leggett & Platt, we converted to bi-metal utility blades from carbon steel blades. The bi-metal blades were unbreakable and lasted 6 times longer than carbon steel counterparts in our manufacturing application where we use the utility blades to remove baked on residue from rollers.”
Additionally bi-metal utility blades are unbreakable making them safer for Associates to work with. Says Rachel Champion, Safety Manager at Yamaha, North America, “We are constantly looking for tools to maximize employee safety. Shattered utility blades can lodge chards of steel in the skin or the eyes. Unbreakable bi-metal blades reduce our risks of catastrophic injuries.”
Since the bi-product of bi-metal blades is a dramatic reduction in total costs in the area of cutting and decreased liability, Production and Safety Managers are beginning to take a sharp look at utility knives and blades. Maybe you should too.
For more information on IRWIN Blue Blade Bi-Metal Utility Blades, click here.
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