Industrial & Kitchen Knife Safety Tips

Accidents with knives are common in catering and other industrial jobs, but this does not mean that the risk cannot be minimised. With the correct measures and protective equipment in place, you and your employees can be kept safe from harm (so far as is reasonably practicable).

1. Train employees in the safe use and sharpening of knives.
2. Use a knife that is suitable for the task at hand.
3. Wear appropriate personal protective equipment.
4. Cut on a stable surface.
5. Store knives securely after use.
6. Dispose of knives in the correct manner.

1. Train Employees

As outlined in HSE, people need to be given adequate instructions in safe working practices so that they are not a danger to themselves or others. As such, common knife injuries can be prevented with the correct training from competent staff.

Ensure that your employees know how to handle, use and sharpen knives. This should include the PPE that is required for each process.

Each knife will have a slightly different method but, for a standard chef’s knife, the index finger and thumb should be opposite each other on either side of the blade while the remaining three fingers are sort of loosely curled around the handle. You should be gripping the knife mainly with the thumb and forefinger.

Your non-knife hand is called your “guiding hand,” and its job is to hold the food to keep it from sliding around. To keep your fingers safe, you should adopt the “claw grip” — keeping the fingers curled inward and gripping the food with the fingernails.

2. Suitable Knife

Knives have different blade lengths, weights and cutting angles for a reason, ensure you know what each knife is used for — and when and where you need to use it.

For example, a fillet knife is suitable for cutting fish but not for meat or vegetables, in the same sense that a bread knife is great for bread, but shouldn’t be used on meat, fish or vegetables. Make sure you and your employees are familiarised with the types of knife available, and comfortable with when and where to use each one.

3. Wear PPE

PPE is equipment that will protect the user against health or safety risks at work. According to HSE, “PPE should only be used as a last resort, ie. when all other ways to eliminate or reduce risks have been considered.” That being said, this is up to the workplace: different PPE can be used if it is deemed safe for the work and has been assessed as such. You and your employees might be keen to use cut-resistant kitchen gloves, for example.

Note that protective footwear which provides adequate resistance to slipping and protection against penetration from a dropped knife should be worn.

4. Cut on a Stable Surface

This one speaks for itself but cutting on a stable surface is crucial. More than just stable though, work surfaces should be set at a comfortable height for the individual to work, and each person that uses a knife should have more than enough space to move and operate in a safe manner. Adequate lighting should also be provided.

5. Suitable Knife Storage

Where you store your knives will depend on the industry you’re in. Kitchen knives can (and should) be stored in a professional knife block or a scabbard.

If you are cutting packaging, strapping, cable ties, string or netting, you should use a safety knife. These might have a blade suitable for opening boxes, for example, but there is no risk of direct contact between the user and the blade because of its smart design.

Replaceable and reversible blades are available for safety knives, and can often be stored inside the knife handle. These knives can also be stowed in a secure belt holster for safe and easy transportation and access.

6. Correct Knife Disposal

If, for whatever reason, you need to dispose of knifes and blades, make sure you do so in the correct manner.

Although you can dispose of knives in the general waste bin (after it has been blunted and wrapped in protective materials), we reccomend a blade disposal bank and/or a used blade disposal container. The disposal box has slits to “shorten” your snap-off blades, and is large enough to store a number of used blades safely – which you can later empty into the used blade disposal container.

At morSafe, we stock a large range of first aid and safety supplies, with free next day delivery available. If you need more guidance, please do contact us on 01686 611 377 or sales@morsafesupplies.com.