For every 100 warehouse workers, 4.8 suffer an injury at work, according to a 2019 study from The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Don’t let your employees contribute to that statistic. Invest in the right tools to keep your warehouse employees safe.

Whether you are purchasing the correct safety knives or placing blade containers throughout the building, protecting employees should be your first priority. Our list of warehouse safety essentials prevents unwarranted injuries while maximizing ware productivity.

Importance of Warehouse Safety

OSHA states that “the fatal injury rate for the warehousing industry is higher than the national average for all industries.” 

“Unsafe use of forklifts, improper stacking of boxes, or failure to use proper personal protective equipment” are the cause for many workplace fatalities.

There are many ways to solve these problems, but you’re going to be focusing on the macro-scale warehouse issues. Our list of the essential tools to keep your employees safe in the warehouse focuses more on the micro products your employees use daily.

SECUNORM safety knives feature a semi-automatic blade retraction system which means that the blade “disappears into the handle immediately after cutting as long as you have removed your thumb or finger from the blade release.”

We provide our customers with a series of in-depth training videos, product videos, and blade change instructions. We’ve also answered a few of our most frequently asked questions and are more than happy to reach out if you have any more questions for us.

7 Essential Tools to Keep Employees Safe in the Warehouse

The best way to avoid injuries in your warehouse is to make sure you’ve got the right tools in your employees’ hands. 

Because your employees are likely moving fast while they work, it’s important to have  cutting tool options that minimize accidents. This is  why we have a variety of different safety cutting products, blade disposal containers, and metal detectable plastic options.

1. Automatic Retractable Safety Knives

Suppose your employees are cutting open boxes or slicing through plastic film. In that case, a fully automatic retractable blade safety knife becomes a must-have for any safety-first warehouse. When purchasing safety knives, you are going to want to focus on protection from the blades.

Our automatic blade retraction technology found in our SECUPRO series retracts the blade immediately once you are done cutting. The friendly trigger mechanism limits the opportunities of blade exposure for your employees.

Seek out a safety knife with an ergonomic, comfortable handle. This will help prevent  your employees from losing their grip or dropping the knife.to lose grip or drop it It will also make getting the job done easier if the knife you choose includes tool-less blade changing.

A safety knife is a tool that your employees will use every day, so it’s a no-brainer to get one with automatic blade retraction.

2. Blade Disposal Containers

If your company uses replaceable blades with your knives, keeping a couple blade containers around the warehouse is the safest way to dispose of used razor blades.

Using any old container to throw away used blades can easily cause an accident which is why you’ll want a used blade box specifically designed for disposal. These containers typically utilize a unique lid that seals shut when complete to avoid any spills.

Place these boxes around your warehouse to ensure your employees don’t need to carry around any unnecessary blades in their pockets or hands.

There is also our SAFEBOX. For employees who might not have the time to get to a disposal box, our SAFEBOX is a personal blade disposal container that allows them to store a large number of blades safely until they can properly discard them.

Providing safe disposal for blades is just as vital as the knives themselves. It is a simple (and cheap) tool to keep your employees safe in the warehouse.

3. First-Aid Kit

If something goes wrong in the warehouse, it is imperative to have a first aid kit on hand so that any injuries don’t progress into something worse. Bandages, disinfectants, and tweezers are all essential parts of a first aid kit you need to have ready in an emergency.

Additionally, place the first aid kit in an easily accessible part of the warehouse (and close to the main work stations). The sooner an employee can get to the first aid kit, the less severe their injury will become. That’s why you absolutely need a well-stocked first aid kit.

4. Film and Sheet Safety Cutters

For businesses that require employees to cut film and sheets, you’re going to need a specialty safety cutter. The key feature of a film and sheet safety cutter is that the blade is completely concealed which means at no point does the operator or product come in contact with the blade.

Designed to cut through multi-layered films and sheets, our SECUMAX PLASTICUT protects your product from rips and tears. And, since the blade is underneath a plastic cover, your employee’s fingers are going to be safe too. Also, all of our small cutters are disposable.

5. Ring Knives

Sometimes your warehouse employees need to multitask, and what better way to do that than with a ring knife. 

Worn on the top side of your finger, the ring knife works great on film, yarn, thread, and others. Add in the fact that MARTOR uses metal detectable plastic to create our ring knives, you don’t have to worry about losing them on the production line.

6. Personal Protective Gear

When working in a warehouse, using appropriate protective equipment can be the difference between perfect health and injury. 

Hardhats, goggles, and gloves are all tools that can prevent injuries small and large. Every individual in the warehouse should have access to personal protective equipment (PPE) to maintain a safe work environment.

If chemicals are present in the warehouse, you should also consider equipping your employees with masks to keep them from inhaling anything dangerous. Toxic chemical inhalation is often not considered when thinking of warehouse injuries. Still, it can cause serious harm to your employees over time.

7. MDP Safety Knives

Metal Detectable Plastic is as the name suggests: plastic that can be picked up by metal detectors. Knives made from MDP are perfect for warehouses that specialize in the food industry as small pieces of plastic can break off at any point.

MARTOR sells a wide collection of metal detectable plastic safety knives that range from box cutters, to an all-around disposable film knife. We designed these knives with material that are easily found with a well-calibrated metal detector.

Protect your customers as well as your employees: make sure the products leaving your warehouse are plastic-free by investing in safety knives made from metal detectable plastic.

Training

It might sound obvious, but proper training goes a long way to keep your employees safe in the workplace.

For MARTOR products, we provide detailed safety training videos that help your team know how to properly use our knives, switch out blades, and anything else that prevents workplace injuries before they happen.

Providing training for all of your employees is one of the most valuable investments any company can make.

MARTOR’s Levels of Safety

Employee safety is at the core of every product MARTOR designs. We offer five levels of safety for our knives, from bladeless cutting tools to automatically retracting blades.

At level one, you will find bladeless knives. For level two, we sell concealed blade safety knives while level three and four features our automatic blade retraction system. At the highest level are more traditional manually retractable and fixed blade cutters.

Three terms you will find on our website are SECUMAX, SECUPRO, and SECUNORM. Each of these represent products with different safety features built in.

The SECUMAX contains a completely concealed blade which means “neither users nor packaged goods can come into contact” with the blade.

For a bit more freedom, the SECUPRO offers fully automatic blade retraction. Even if you hold the slider button down on the safety knife, the blade still automatically retracts as soon as you finish cutting.

At MARTOR, we offer a variety of tools to best suit your needs and safety requirements. From levels 1 to 5, our cutting tools will keep your employees safe in the warehouse while keeping productivity up.

Contact us today to make your warehouse a safe workplace.