FACTS

1. Sharp forced injuries like stab, cut and chop wounds are caused by:

• Employees in a hurry, taking short cuts or not following safety procedures.
• Failure to wear cut-resistant gloves or wearing improper gloves for job.
• Contact with metal items such as nails, metal stock or burrs.
• Hand tools with blades (e.g., knives, box cutters, screwdrivers, chisels).
• Powered machinery with cutting blades, pinch points, chain and sprocket, conveyor belts, rotating parts, motors, presses, lathes.
• Handling sharp objects glass, sheet metal.
• Improper tool for the job or tool used improperly.
• Tools in poor condition.
• Missing or improperly adjusted guarding.
• Poor housekeeping, clutter, debris.
• Poor lighting, reduced visibility.
• Improper Training.

STATS

• Approximately 30 percent of all workplace injuries involve cuts or lacerations, and about 70 percent of those injuries are to the hands or fingers.
• The National Safety Council (NSC) reports that over 120,000 hand injuries occurred in 2019.
  • 83% of those hand injuries were caused by lacerations, cuts, and punctures.
  • 27% of machinery injuries are lacerations.
  • 56% of injuries caused by cutting tools are lacerations and cause 5 lost days from work.
• Being struck by a falling object or a cut from a hand knife accounts for over 10% of major injuries reported to HSE in the food and drink industries alone.
• Hand knife injuries typically account for between 25-50% of all lost time accidents in the plastics processing industry (HSE/Plastics Processors H&S Liaison Committee).
• 58% of all workplace accidents involving manual tools were caused by knives.