Posted By Alan Barthrope Our operatives and Contractors have a nasty habit of cutting the their fingers off (exageration) with Stanley Knives, or similar. I have heard of the use of safety knives, but have never seen these and do not understand how they might work. Can anyone point me in the direction, as its about time I started doing something about this issue rather than just collecting the stats. The operative in this instance was not wearing gloves, therefore if anybody has any suitable suggestions on types of gloves that give the necessary touch sensitivity and the protection against sharp blades, I will be most grateful. Thanks in advance for any help. Alan B

Posted By Paul Leadbetter Alan You could also try: http://www.safetyknife.net Paul

Posted By Roy Gladwell Alan There are several different types of KEVLAR gloves, these will protect against knife injuries.Obviously it depends on the type of work that the operatives are undertaking as to weather they would be suitable.There is a national company called ARCO that can supply these gloves. Regards Roy

Posted By David Rae Alan On closer examination of these incidents, you would probably find that a stanley knife is NOT the correct tool for the job in the first instance. Even if it were suitable, the blade is probably blunted to a degree which makes the effort required to cut (and possible injuries) all that much worse. A risk assessment is the way to go. At that point, if one of the many safety knives available on the market is NOT an option for you, take the bull by the horns and implement a knife management strategy. Typically this will include the removal of all personal open bladed knives from the workplace. Provide a simple training programme in the safe use of stanley knives and apphend attendees names to an authorised user register. Issue stanley knives c/w a pair of kevlar gloves and brand new blade in a pack from a central location against a signature - but only to authorised users. Ensure everyone who comes on site is aware of the system and why it was necessary to implement it - possibly through the site induction programme. Take this advice and your injury rates WILL reduce. If they don't - I'll eat my hard hat! Regards..DR

Posted By Gavin Barr Alec, could you e mail me that poster please. We use Mator knives and I would like a poster as part of our training. Thanks in anticipation Gavin