Found out I can't use a knife at work.

I have a similar story but more ridiculous.

My supervisor is an old guy who moved to the united states in the last decade. Id use my pocket knife on cargo straps, heavy duty boxing tape, and the like, I did this for about two years. One day, my supervisor approaches me and accuses me of bringing a weapon to work, and that "even though I think youre a nice guy, other people dont know that and think you might hurt someone".

I called BS and we went to the owner about it. the owner told me no more knives at work because "people from his country are scared of knives".

So, no more knives at work for me. The messed up part, the owner of the company is a knife collector.
 
An employer has the right to dictate what tools are allowed at work and he does not have to care what an employee would like to use.
Life is a bitch and then you die, you know.
 
Bludgeon said:
Sucks you cant carry blade at work! My job won't allow them either.:cocksure:
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I can carry one, just not use it. There is no weapons policy. He never said don't bring a knife, just that I can't use anything but that specific safety cutter. There's a ton of other safety rules too, most of which make sense. I guess it's a good thing everyone is scared to get sued otherwise employers would completely disregard their employees safety. I'll still carry my xl voyager clipped to my waistband, simply because the trip to work involves me walking through some very nasty metropolitan areas.
 
In a warehouse environment the safety knife makes sense not for employee safety but merchandise safety. you may be perfectly capable of opening a box without gutting the contents but the next guy may be a disaster. When I was in the army I loaned my endura to a guy to open a case of MRE's and he pretty much bisected the top layer of 'em.
The fact that you can carry a knife there but not use it suggests they are protecting their inventory.
 
Yep it's typically some lunkhead wanker that screws it up for all of us.
Using a knife as a pry bar and stabbing himself.
Plunging a knife into a box and damaging the contents.
etc
etc
etc

We pays for the sins/crimes of others...it is always that way and has always been...it sucks
 
I recently took a part time job at a large sporting goods store, they are opening a new store and the opportunities to use a knife are abundant when merchandising an entire store.

Almost the first thing they told us was not to use pocket knives to open boxes. For safety and so that product wasn't damaged. I'll admit I was disappointed but, I see the abuse and wear the "safety cutters" are taken and I'm glad I'm not subjecting my knives to that, even though I'm sure they would take it in stride.
 
I like my knives as much as the next person on this forum, but have any of you actually looked at the younger employees in the work force of late?

I've never seen such a large number of inept game box playing young people in my life. Most of them have no idea of any kind of took use, outside of their computer games, let alone the skills for handling a sharp knife. We had one young man at my last place of employment before I retired, who very neatly amputated his right index finger and nearly took the middle finger when he was using his Buck 110 in a very unsafe way. When told to knock it off, his smart reply was "It's a Buck knife, It'll take it."

Well it didn't, and as a result the employer had to pay some months of sick leave and the medical cost of the re-attaching of the finger. I don't imagine the bill from the Johns Hopkins hand clinic in Baltimore was a small one.

As a result, the employer passed a no knives policy, to be enforced by employee termination if violated. They issued safety cutters and that was that.

Looking at some of the young men and women in the stores toady, I wouldn't want to trust them with a butter knife, let alone a really sharp knife. If people want to learn to use a knife I have no problem with that. But 99% of the people don't even carry a knife anymore. How can you expect to have some store stock clerk who knows nothing about a knife, has no interest in learning to use one, open all the cartons to restock shelves? You give him a safety box opener and hope he doesn't figure out a way to run it over his finger and need stitches at a hospital. Seriously, it happened. One young lady, a year out of high school and trying to make up her mind if she wanted to go to college or hair styling school, was unboxing some stuff for the shelf, and ran the safety cutter right over her left fingers. Since she didn't lift it off the box top, the safety shield was kept pushed up by the cardboard and then her fingers. Even with an idiot proof tool the idiot still managed to make a claim on my cousins insurance company. She kept saying that she didn't understand how she got cut, since it was a safety cutter!

We have a family member who runs a small business. Believe me, you wouldn't believe the people who come in looking for a job. If I could put any 10 of you in that business for one week, and interview some of the people who are coming in, I doubt you would want to let them have a sharp knife either.
 
Can you at least still carry your own knife? If so than beat the hell out of the issued box-cutter and carry on.

The law office I use to work at initially didn't care what knife we carried as long as we were discreet about it. One of my co-workers was also a member of various knife forums and we use to compare what we were carrying or when we got something new - times were good. Then some new lawyer they hired disobeyed the no-firearms rule & got flashy with it to boot. Thanks to that we received an email with the new "No Weapons" company policy. Loved the fact that as a law office they stated something as open to misinterpretation as "No Weapons". So I started carrying my Victorinox Compact because it was a "Tool" not a "Weapon".

Edit - Just recalled the worst laceration I've ever seen. Many years ago I worked for a grocery store chain unloading trucks & stocking shelves. We were given box-cutters to open stuff & break down the empty cardboard boxes. Co-worker was pulling hard on one towards himself trying to break down a large box. When it finally tugged free he dragged it down the whole length of his left forearm. Off he went to the E.R. with his whole arm wrapped in a t-shirt & rags. After a couple of surgeries to repair/re-attach stuff, and lots of stitches & months of recuperation he was OK.
 
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yepimonfire said:
Nope, had to be the exact approved version

Warehouse style job


A non threatening folding knife. Just regular plain Jane obviously made for utility purposes. And no I wasn't flicking it and playing with it. I was actually using it to cut ties, plastic wrap, boxes etc. and the guy who mentioned insurance stuff, it probably has to do with that. The knife they gave me is obviously the most ridiculous baby proof blade. It only stays open as long as you hold the lever down, blade only protrude like 1/8 inch.
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Ah the famous Home Depot regulation. :barf:
 
My take on this is pretty simple. Your employer controls what tools you may use while at work whether you like it or not. Their safety manual may have a mention on use of unapproved personal knives at the work place. If you are injured at work, do you feel they are responsible? I use my knife working frequently and encourage it as long as they are not some big honking "tactical" knife. And yes, I probably have my biases.
 
I work at Target, we have rules against using pocket knives, or any box cutter type tool to cut down boxes, that isn't Target-approved. I got approved to use my own pocket knife after slicing my hand with their flimsy, unsafe box cutter. The razor they give us doesn't lock in place, open or closed, it simply slides in and out of a sleeve. The razor came "open" in my back pocket, and as I reached into my pocket to grab it, it sliced right down my palm and so I filed a safety complaint. After that happened, I sat down with my boss in a calm fashion, showed him my wound, and demonstrated the safety of a pocket knife over the razor I was given. The basic idea of my conversation was demonstrating how they work, how much safer they are in deployment, use, closing, and pocket storage, I used my Benchmade Mini Griptillian as an example since it's small. He, reluctantly, gave me the okay to use a small pocket knife so long as I remain safe with it, and made sure I was aware that if I cut myself with one of my own blades, I would not be able to seek compensation from Target. I agreed to the terms he set for me, and since he gave me the green light I have not had one knife-related cut, before my bad Target-razor cut, I would be minorly cut at least once per night. I now EDC my Mini Grip, my Skyline, or my Leek at work without being held in compliance for using them. On a fancy day I can get away with bringing my ZT 0770cf.

I would advise to sit down and have a civilized man-to-man talk with your boss. You might be able to sway him with some logic, like I was able to do. The worst that could happen is that he tells you no, in which case you'll really have no choice but to follow the rules, as inconvenient as it may be. It's worth a shot, and maybe it could inspire some change within the company.
 
Can't I just sign a damn legal waiver that says I can't sue if I cut myself and just use whatever goddamned knife I want? I mean honestly.
 
For info, a waiver does not have the force of law in the case of death in terms of liability. There was a case years ago where some mineral collectors got permission to go into the pit (Butte MT) to search for specimans. They signed a waiver. One was killed. Company was liable.
 
yepimonfire said:
Just got in trouble for it today. Was handed a retracting safety knife and told not to see it again. Sucks too because I have an opportunity to use a knife about 20x a day. Also a vast majority of professions where a knife would be used seem to be strongly against the use of real knives for safety reasons. Almost every place I've worked has done this to me.
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Just come back with a Busse.
 
Boias.John said:
I work at Target, we have rules against using pocket knives, or any box cutter type tool to cut down boxes, that isn't Target-approved. I got approved to use my own pocket knife after slicing my hand with their flimsy, unsafe box cutter. The razor they give us doesn't lock in place, open or closed, it simply slides in and out of a sleeve. The razor came "open" in my back pocket, and as I reached into my pocket to grab it, it sliced right down my palm and so I filed a safety complaint. After that happened, I sat down with my boss in a calm fashion, showed him my wound, and demonstrated the safety of a pocket knife over the razor I was given. The basic idea of my conversation was demonstrating how they work, how much safer they are in deployment, use, closing, and pocket storage, I used my Benchmade Mini Griptillian as an example since it's small. He, reluctantly, gave me the okay to use a small pocket knife so long as I remain safe with it, and made sure I was aware that if I cut myself with one of my own blades, I would not be able to seek compensation from Target. I agreed to the terms he set for me, and since he gave me the green light I have not had one knife-related cut, before my bad Target-razor cut, I would be minorly cut at least once per night. I now EDC my Mini Grip, my Skyline, or my Leek at work without being held in compliance for using them. On a fancy day I can get away with bringing my ZT 0770cf.

I would advise to sit down and have a civilized man-to-man talk with your boss. You might be able to sway him with some logic, like I was able to do. The worst that could happen is that he tells you no, in which case you'll really have no choice but to follow the rules, as inconvenient as it may be. It's worth a shot, and maybe it could inspire some change within the company.
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I used to use one of those when I worked at meijer. Even there, there was a guy who brought his own in, it was literally exactly the same thing except it wasn't white and he got in trouble for using unapproved knives. Except for the fact they did come open sometimes, I actually didnt dislike those. I really hate these auto retracting safety knives. In fact the reason I started using my folder is because the damn thing wouldn't cut cargo straps, the ones wrapped around lumber are very thick and its impossible to get any leverage with it, with my folder I could slide the blade under, lift up and it'd pop right off.
 
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When I used to work in a company office, they had a "no knife/weapons" policy. I saw people with pocket clips, leatherman micras, saks, etc. It was a large building, and a kitchen on every floor. When we had a head honcho leave, they cut his cake with one of the many 12 inch bread knives kept in the kitchen drawer, along with steak knives. I pointed this out to several managers and HR, and just got shrugs.

The employer does have the right to make the rules, even if they are contradictory. :D Now I work out of a home office, and life is much better.
 
Your company will freak out and try to cover their butt in any way when it comes to safety. Lawsuits are a problem and so is OSHA. It takes one person calling OSHA and they will come in and put all kinds of rules into place and fine the company, maybe heavily (they will find something)

We are in a situation where I work where people are watching for "safety issues" to report against people they don't like. It's a mess. The managers are going nuts.

Anyway the point is, don't blame your managers. They're between a rock and a hard place.
 
Last place I worked I used to carry a belt knife around to cut wires zip ties etc. this was also a brand new small company and I was technically a contractor. Real laid back though, I remember the wifi password was a combination of curse words lol.
 
I worked at an arts & crafts store for a year and during that time I used a SAK to open and break down boxes. I guess it wasn't against their rules since nobody ever told me not to or insisted I use a box cutter. Probably because then they'd have to make sure there were enough to go around; didn't seem there ever were and I'd occasionally find them left on store shelves by other employees. That always struck me as a liability for the store if anyone's kid ever found them and got cut.

The "store issued box cutter" doesn't seem to be any sort of guarantee that employees won't find a way to damage merchandise by cutting into boxes too deeply. I've seen lots of product packaging that got sliced open and set out for sale. No matter how safe anyone tries to make the work environment for the workers or the merchandise, some clumsy individual(s) *will* find a way to do damage to something or someone. But TPTB do have to try.
 
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