Safety knives are the backbone of any warehouse as they are the essential tools that make sure operations continue to run smoothly, efficiently, and without injury.

The safety knife specialists at MARTOR dedicate their time and energy to maximizing worker safety while not skimping out on sharpness and quality.

At the same time, we've heard every myth around about safety knives and their workplace effectiveness. 

We're going to lay out the four most common safety knife myths and why they are wrong, but every workplace facility needs to supply its staff with the right kind of safety knife.

What is the difference between a safety knife and a regular knife?

In a rush, we've all grabbed the sharpest object nearby to open up a package without thinking about the consequences: keys, ball-point pen, kitchen knife.

But all it takes is one slip up, and you'll find yourself in a world of hurt, or worse, seriously injured.

Regular knives focus solely on one thing: sharpness. Depending on the type of knife, they are designed to cut through any object in their path. These range from chef knives to Swiss-Army Knives.

And while they are effective, they lack some of the practical benefits of a safety knife when working in a factory.

A safety knife is a spring-loaded knife with a self-retracting blade. MARTOR develops safety knives with these factors in mind: workplace safety and knife sharpness.

Every safety knife MARTOR sells fits within one of our safety levels. SECUMAX, SECUPRO, and SECUNORM feature different blade retraction options ranging from fully automatic blade retraction to hand-held retraction.

We also spend time designing ergonomic handles to avoid hand cramping and any potential injuries resulting from consistent cutting movements.

But just because we focused on safety doesn't mean we neglected sharpness.

Born from the "City of Blades," Solingen, Germany, every MARTOR steel blade has been crafted to stay sharper for longer.

Rest assured that a MARTOR safety knife maximizes workplace safety without sacrificing sharpness.

4 Common Safety Knife Myths Busted

Safety knife myths continuously deter warehouses and on-site managers from investing in proper equipment. 

MARTOR is here to help by highlighting four of the most common myths about safety knives and the actual truth to help you make the right decision for your business and employees.

Myth #1 - I don't need to use safety knives because we haven't had a laceration in quite some time. 

While it's excellent news you have been laceration free, the past is no guarantee of the future. In 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics identified that workplaces suffered 6,740 cuts, lacerations, and punctures that required employees to take time off of work.

It doesn't matter how careful you are if you're not using the proper safety equipment. When sharp, dangerous tools are used, that risk needs to be addressed before injuries occur.

MARTOR safety knives offer various retractable blades to avoid lacerations: automatic, semi-automatic, and concealed. Each provides a different level of protection that allows you and your employees to stay safe while giving the sharpness of a traditional utility knife.

Myth #2 - Safety knives are harder to use than regular utility knives.

Let's take a quick look at the steps involved with regular knives:

Step 1 - Engage the blade. 

Step 2 - Perform the cut. 

Step 3 - Retract the blade.

Everything is the same with a safety knife, except you don't have to worry about retracting the blade. Our semi-automatic and automatic technology lifts the blade into the handle when it's no longer touching the cutting surface.

There is no evidence that using a safety knife is more complex than using a traditional blade. MARTOR stands by our belief that our retractable technology makes using a safety knife safer and more straightforward to use.

Myth #3 - Safety knives are too expensive.

Depending on the type of care needed, a workplace laceration costs anywhere from $300 to $70,000. While MARTOR cannot guarantee no lacerations, our safety technology is designed to limit unnecessary and unexpected injuries.

This fact alone can save your company thousands of dollars per year.

MARTOR’s competitive prices allow you to protect your employees without worrying about breaking the bank.

Myth #4 - Safety knives don't cut the wide variety of regular knives' materials.

Safety knives are all about having the right tools at your disposal. While safety knives cut through almost all general industrial materials, you must still use the correct type of safety knife for the job.

For example, a person cutting shrink wrap all day will need a different kind of safety cutter than an employee who mainly cuts triple wall boxes. The blades may be the same, but the exposure, handles, and retraction methods will differ.

And when it comes to knife sharpness, one test revealed that our competitor's steel blades dulled 4x faster than ours.

No matter the cutting surface, MARTOR has the proper safety knife for you.

Ready to invest in employee safety? Check out MARTOR’s safety knife collection.

Investing in employee safety isn't just about training and first aid kits; it's about the equipment you provide them around the office and inside the warehouse. 

MARTOR’s safety knives prevent cuts, nicks, and stabs thanks to their ergonomic design and retractable blades. Check out our entire collection of workplace safety knives and treat your employees to the best knives on the market.