Knives are extremely common in many types of workplaces across many industries. For some companies, knives are so essential to daily operations that there are hundreds or thousands of them stored on the premises at any given time. With so many knife options, workplace hazards and injury prevention needs to be top of mind.

Safety knives are becoming more common in the workplace. They are especially common for workers that often use utility knives and box cutters, such as shipping and receiving departments, retail/grocery stores, and restaurants. Safety knives and box cutters are used to open packages, cut strapping material, cut through tape, tear away shrink wrap, cut bags, and much more. More companies are investing in safety knives because knife accidents in the workplace are a common occurrence, which is not only bad for the injured workers, but can also cost companies thousands of dollars every year. 

Knife safety training for employees has a great return on investment for companies where employees utilize knives on a regular basis. Companies may have to invest more in the beginning, but the savings they reap from safety trainings and the benefit of knowing that their employees are safe is always worth it. To understand how much the savings will be, you must know exactly how much knife injuries cost companies. The cost of lacerations and injuries from knives add up because employers are paying for the injured workers to have the injuries treated, for their hospital bills, for the days the employees are out of work, and sometimes for lawsuits. According to OSHA, the average cost per claim for a direct or indirect laceration injury is $36,472. The National Safety Council reported that over 1 million hand injuries occur each year in the United States and 63% of these are from knife lacerations. On top of that, there are 2.4 million hospital visits from cutting or piercing instruments. The main reason so many knife injuries occur in the workplace is because employees are not properly trained on how to use their cutting tools or on the safety precautions they should take while utilizing them.

Almost all businesses use some sort of utility knife or box cutter. At some point the blades for these knives and cutters become dull and workers need to dispose of them. To ensure optimal safety measures for your workplace, follow these blade disposal tips.