Cutting Tools - Lacerations | Workplace Safety - OHS

Lacerations are one of the most common injuries sustained in the workplace. The good news is that lacerations are largely preventable, given the right training and the right equipment. As concerns the latter, safety managers the world over are continually on the hunt for the safest safety knife.

Why focusing on lacerations is important

Before talking about box cutters and blades, it’s important to give a brief look at why laceration prevention should be a key workplace safety focus.

First off, cuts hurt. Even small lacerations, like a paper cut, can be irritatingly painful for days. More serious lacerations not only cause pain, but they can lead to severed connective tissue or nerves, and permanent damage. This can require hospital visits, surgery and follow-up care.

While any serious cut is best avoided, cuts to the hand can have a particularly bad impact on workers, sidelining or handicapping them for days, weeks, even months. What job doesn’t require you to use your hands?

For the employer, lacerations are shockingly expensive, once you consider all of the direct and indirect costs. In addition to the possible increase in insurance or workers compensation premiums, any injury disrupts productivity. There is also the cost of paid time off, if so required, and hiring temporary help (or overburdening existing staff) to fill in for the injured party.

A cut or laceration can occur a number of ways on the job. A worker may use the wrong tool for the job or a tool that’s in poor condition. Or, he or she might be working on a machine that has missing or improperly adjusted guards. Poor lighting, clutter and debris also can play a part, as can lack of training, working too fast, failure to wear proper personal protective equipment and not following safety procedures.

Typical hazards/causes of cuts and lacerations:

• Improper training
• Lack of established safety procedures
• Employees in a hurry, taking short cuts or not following safety procedures
• Failure to wear cut-resistant gloves or wearing improper gloves for job
• Contact with metal items such as nails, metal stock or burrs
• Hand tools with blades (e.g., knives, box cutters, screwdrivers, chisels)
• Powered machinery with cutting blades, pinch points, chain and sprocket, conveyor belts, rotating parts, motors, presses, lathes
• Handling sharp objects or material such as glass, sheet metal
• Improper tool for the job or tool used improperly (e.g., using a screwdriver as a pry bar)
• Tools in poor condition (e.g., cracked or broken handle, dull blade, mushroomed head or slippery from exposure to oil-based chemicals)
• Missing or improperly adjusted guarding
• Poor housekeeping, clutter, debris
• Poor lighting, reduced visibility

• Training employees to use established safety procedures;
• Maintaining proper machine guarding;
• Using lockout/tagout procedures;
• Wearing personal protective equipment;
• Safe tool use;
• Good housekeeping.

• Wear proper safety gear; eyewear, gloves, sleeves.
• Use the proper tool for the job.
• Inspect tools prior to use.
• Keep work area clear.
• Keep tool under control at all times.
• Keep the item you are cutting secured; don’t hold work in hand while cutting.
• Use a sharp blade; a dull blade requires greater force, increasing potential hazards.
• Replace blades when they become dull; use caution when disposing of used blades (e.g., use approved sharps container or wrap the cutting edge with heavy tape).
• Stand in a well-balanced position.
• Pull the blade toward you when cutting on a horizontal surface.
• Make sure the path of the cut is clear, and keep the non-cutting hand out of the path of the cut.
• When cutting thick material, use several passes of the blade and apply more downward pressure with each pass.
• Never use a cutting blade as a screwdriver, pry bar or chisel.
• Don’t leave exposed blades unattended; use self-retracting cutting blades.
• When appropriate, use rounded tip cutting blades rather than pointed tip blades.
• Maintain proper storage or use a separate drawer for sharp cutting tools.
• Keep cutting tools in a closed position or covered with a protective sheath.

Original Sources:
-Cutting tools: give lacerations the cut
-Safety Vault Information Service
-Box Cutter Safety Trainning at Slice Workplace Safety Blog

More reading:
Box Cutters Safety | OHS - Workplace Safety
Safety Knives | OHS - Workplace Safety