“Safety is no accident.”
Workplace safety is associated with putting businesses on the road to success. Companies that provide a safe environment, free from any health hazard leads to its employees feeling more secure and thus optimizing their day-to-day productivity.
Workplace safety becomes more critical when you are working in a warehouse surrounded by sharp knives and objects day in and day out. Due to their daily interactions with such sharp objects, one can become a little too casual with the handlings of such objects and thus, leading to a domino effect of medical care, workers’ compensation, and lost productivity.
According to The British Safety Council, India "In the year 2016, about 48,000 workers died in India because of occupational accidents."
Further, we were shocked to read that “In a country with a population of 1.25 Billion, around 80% of workers of the estimated 465 Million strong workforces are not protected by the existing health & safety, legal framework.”
(Permanent & temporary disabilities are not taken into account in the above stated statistics.)
Source: The Hindu
Every Year, The Workplaces Witness Almost 30% of Injuries Involving Cuts & Lacerations:
The injuries involving cuts and lacerations is due to the frequent use of cutters and sharp cutting tools that are common in such businesses.
These injuries may range from a small cut to complete loss of hand dexterity. Whatever be the case, every injury disrupts the workflow and affects the well-being of the injured as well as the witnesses. It lowers the morale of the workforce, accounts for added medical expenditure, and affects productivity.
The most common tools around a warehouse are sharp knives with metal blades. Metal blades tend to lose their sharpness within a few uses. Hence, they are extra sharp and very risky when they arrive. Also, they need to be handled strongly when rendered dull, making them hazardous.
Thus, the overly sharp and dull phase of each metal blade makes it a risky choice for warehouse workers.
According to the Labour and Employment Ministry:
In India, each day about 3 workers die and 47 get injured in factory accidents as they do not follow the stated safety guidelines. Between 2014 to 2016, over 46,000 prosecutions were filed in India related to factory accidents and according to the records 65 people were found responsible for the accidents that took place who were then imprisoned by law. Factories were imposed with fines of Rs. 29.44 crore.
To help minimize the risks associated with cuts and lacerations, employers should establish procedures to identify and control the hazards:
Following Tips can be taken into account every time an employee works with a sharp knife or blade to Reduce the warehouse accident
- Inspecting a tool thoroughly before using it is very important. One needs to assess if the cutter or knife is broken or in an operational state.
- Using appropriate protective equipment like eye protection, gloves, wearing long sleeves, every time a cutter or knife is being used. This will provide an extra layer of protection from the fly back of a broken blade & from various other cut injuries that can take place while operating in the warehouse.
- Following all safety instructions, like keeping the non-cutting hand away from the path of the cut. Every warehouse should have a poster disclosing the safety norms “Do’s & Don’ts” of using cutters, knives & tools in the warehouse.
- Never cut any material by directly holding it in your hands. Use a surface for smooth and safe cutting applications.
- Encouraging workers to partake in training sessions & participating in Q&As. Workforce inputs on cut & laceration injuries at workplace & suggestions on improvements to eliminate the hazards.
- The right amount of brightness and luminosity that can help prevent injuries at the workplace.
- Avoid indulging in fast pace cutting of material while it is moving on a conveyor belt can lead to laceration injuries on hand while retracting backwards.
- Create a manual of all safety cutters or utility knives used at the workplace by workers, with the right procedures to use & for their maintenance.
- Not using the cutting tools as a proxy for other tools like screwdriver or chisel. Only use tools that are appropriate for a particular job, instead of making do with a cutter or knife for all applications. Every cutting application is different whether it be in material or dimension, similarly for a different cutting application we have different sets of cutting tools available. The same is supposed to be used to avoid any kind of damage to goods & injuries to the operator.
- Missing guards from a cutting tool can expose a sharp blade to the operator, creating a risk of injury. So, if in doubt one should always replace the cutter.
- Dull blades require more force while cutting, which increases the risk of cuts and lacerations. So, one should replace dull blades with fresh ones frequently and diligently goes a long way.
- Make use of self-retracting cutters that instantly retracts the blade back in the handle once the blade loses contact with the surface of the material. It will help reduce the risk of cut injuries.
- One should not leave an exposed blade unattended. Always keep cutters in holsters or a dedicated place and dump used blades in a disposable box.
Saurya is always there with you to help implement these precautions. With our innovative cutting solutions i.e. our safety cutters & utility knives you can overcome the problems associated with the regular metal blades installed in snap-off cutters or any other cutters that you might be using in your warehouse.
We will recommend a tailored solution to each of your cutting requirements & provide you with a range of safety cutters that serves as an all-rounder or even a specialised one as per the product requirement.
Our goal is to provide a safe cutting experience as it is a fundamental resource needed for any company’s progress.
Moreover, our utility knives have proved itself instrumental in making the warehouse a safer place and getting control over cuts and laceration in these workplaces. The key to better productivity and safety of your workforce lies in creating awareness about safety procedures and choosing the best cutting tools.
This is when our Martor safety knives come into the picture. It provides the first & the last step towards the safety of the goods & operators and the feeling of security while working in the warehouse.
"Safety is our priority and we wish to extend it into our Indian community."