Hi,

Now there’s cables and there’s cables!

Are we talking about data & comms, domestic twin & skin, or serious industrial SWA?

No matter what you implement it will take them longer, so first, you have to make allowances for this as a company.
Add the time for the sparks to take longer in making ends off into your business plan, quotes, processes etc. this then takes the pressure off them, and they will feel at ease working with you to find a solution.

It is difficult if not impossible to cut say a 120mm sq 5c SWA with a “Stanley” knife (other brands are available).
However, there is a chance you could cut through a Cat5 UTP with one.

Cable cutters & “Stanley” knives are not an interchangeable commodity.

I regularly still make off cable ends and from all of the descriptions I’ve given above, & use a “Stanley” knife all the time. It has been probably 20 years since I’ve cut myself using one at work to make a cable end off.

There are always options, it depends on what you want to do, and how deep the companies’ pockets are.
IMHO the company should be footing the bill for the tools, not the sparks.
If you are going to dictate consumable and durable tooling, then it’s down to, you, the company to supply it.

Gloves are just a downright pain because you lose dexterity and feeling, and are more likely to mis-judge your actions, thus cause injury, well, in my actual practical experience of still doing this, amongst other stuff.

Also, as far as blades go, a blunt blade is MUCH more dangerous than a sharp one, a sharp blade correctly applied requires little or no force to achieve the same result as a blunt one, thus, if, there is an issue and the blade “goes where it shouldn’t” then the blunt blade will have a LOT more force behind it than the sharp one, thus it is likely to be forced into causing a larger injury.

For me, it is a full review of what you are doing and what you are trying to achieve.

It’s not a simple choice between “Stanley” blades & cable cutters.

I did a small job over the weekend making off about 20 Cat5e ends, I am sorting out the wired networking around our office (which doubles as our home!), I used a “Stanley” knife to make the ends off, I didn’t cut myself at all, first thing was check the blade, is it sharp enough, no, because of what I used it for last, so new blade, then start.
However, this morning over coffee I was searching for a dedicated Cat5 cable stripper, because with a blade it’s tedious, and yes there is the potential to cause injury, but that is low on my list, because I know how to use the knife. However, I am in danger of damaging cables, and that also costs money, and is more likely than an injury.

The other thing you need to look at is training, have the guys been trained correctly to use a “Stanley”, it’s been taken out of a lot of training syllabi, because of the risk of injury due to the users not being competent to use it, because they are training, vicious circle there.

So you might need to tactfully look at who is competent to do it and who isn’t, because training these days is sadly lacking, due to the scare factor of a trainee hurting themselves.

I like to follow the Darwinian selection theories myself…

Obviously come back if you want to discuss this more.