1. Only approved knives should be used for the task in hand. See Guidance Table above for suggestions.
2. Training - Personnel who use a knife can only do so following appropriate awareness training/orientation.
3. The distribution of knives must be controlled and recorded (e.g., the knife may be engraved with recipient’s initials or a distribution list maintained including details of awareness/training record).
4. PPE - approved knives can only be used in conjunction with the appropriate PPE, i.e. cut resistant gloves with grip feature.
5. Personnel must never place or carry knives in their pocket. Knives must ONLY be carried in approved pouches/sheaths when not in use. Pouches must be distributed to all knife users. If pouches are unavailable, the knife is left near to the point of use, in a clearly labeled closed container with the blade in the retracted, unexposed position.
6. Periodic audits should be conducted to ensure knife safety requirements are being followed. Plant/Office audits should include the tool and knife safety items.
7. Unused knives must be stored in locked cabinets when not in use.
8. Knife maintenance - knives are prone to getting jammed in the open position if not cleaned regularly. All approved personnel using a knife should ensure that they check the tool pre, during and post use. This should be considered as the “model behaviour” for knife safety and included within the plant knife safety procedure.
9. Blade disposal – used or broken blades must be disposed off safely into clearly marked “sharps box” located near to the points of use. Sharps boxes should be routinely emptied by appropriately trained personnel via approved a waste disposal method.

Firstly, a great big thanks to Shane (see above) for his candid "Member's Perspective". Shane joined us in the really early days (albeit we are less than 124 days old at the time of issuing this Newsletter) and he has been an inspiration to us and me especially. He also also contributed to our downloads area and a lot of our members have made use of his Incident Tracker.

We now have a reasonable number of members spread across this blue planet of ours and we are growing day by day.

If you would like to play a greater part in our network....feel free. I have never been one to "hog center stage" and strongly encourage any one of you to participate. If you want to submit an article or get 1-2-1 support (information, mentoring etc), tell me and let us see what we can do. Don't be shy!!!