Opening a box quickly with a snap-off blade or scissors? We all know how quickly an accident can happen. Safety blades prevent you from being injured.
Knives and scissors have exposed cutting edges and can cause serious wounds when they come into contact with the skin. Even small cuts can hamper work or make it impossible.
18% of work-related accidents are caused by the use of knives. These accidents could probably have been avoided if a safety knife had been used instead of classic (snap-off) blades. We distinguish safety knives using three levels, from high to maximum safety.
Level 1: manual retractable blade
Knives that are retracted manually have a sliding button that is operated using the thumb. There are three settings, depending on the cutting depth you need.
Find out more about manual safety knives
Level 2: semi-automatic retractable blade
Safety knives that are retracted semi-automatically also have a sliding button that is operated using the thumb. The difference here is that, when this is released, the blade is retracted automatically so it is no longer exposed.
Find out more about semi-automatic safety knives
Level 3: fully-automatic retractable blade
With knives that retract fully automatically, the blade disappears after each cut, once the contact with the cut surface is lost. You must not, therefore let go of the holder or slider.
Unlike the other safety knives, this one is less suitable for certain types of material, e.g. films where there is less tension on the material itself. This is because the blade automatically retracts in the absence of pressure.
Find out more about fully automatic safety knives
Knives with an integrated blade
There are also knives with an integrated blade. With these, the blade is completely encased so you can never cut your fingers.
Find out more about knives with an integrated blade
Ceramic knives
As well as ordinary safety knives, there are also knives with a ceramic blade. The double-sided ceramic knife is specially designed to stay sharper and cause fewer accidents. They last up to 11 times longer than steel knives.
These knives are also called finger-friendly safety knives. They are sharp enough to cut through all sorts of packaging materials but pose a lower risk in terms of cutting the skin. There are also several other advantages to ceramic knives:
- Rust-free
- Maintenance-free
- Do not need to be oiled
- Do not spark
- Non-magnetic
- Non-conducting
With ceramic knives, the three safety levels are split according to a colour code. With each level, the holder or sheath has a different colour so a quick distinction can be made.
- Level 1: Orange, manual retractable blade
- Level 2: Green, semi-automatic retractable blade
- Level 3: Blue, fully-automatic retractable blade
