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

[steviesterno]

I'm kind of lucky in this capacity, we're allowed to carry whatever we want as long as it's texas legal. So it says no bowie knives, but anything up to a 5.5" blade is fine. I also carry a bench made of some sort all the time, but will never let anyone use it. A former coworker wanted to see the benchmades action, and trying to be nice I let him play with it. He threw it at a log in the ground, right into a pile of rocks. My fault for thinking someone is a grown up, but not a mistake I'll make twice.

 

[PURPLEDC]

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.

You think thats bad? One time I got a job and they actually handed me a polo shirt and told me I had to wear that thing every day to work. They even told me what color pants I had to wear. The audacity! I swear its like they thought since they were paying me for my time that they get to make the rules............ Wait a second.

 

[22-rimfire]

IBM was like that with white shirt and tie. The audacity!

If a company insists that you wear their "uniform", I believe they have to provide a cleaning service as well for the uniform. My old company was like that. It was pretty optional for the office jockies, but for the field guys, they pretty much were supposed to wear the company stuff. I had one pair of their uniform pants and never wore them once. The polo shirts were okay (actually nice) however.

 

[bdmicarta]

Since I'm self employed I don't have a boss , I am the boss.

Understood but you still didn't list your complaints.


Of course when I was self employed my boss was perfect.

 

[link2derek]

Sounds like you CAN carry it, you just can't use it for your job tasks.

 

[tiguy7]

I worked in a grocery store when I was in high school. When we stocked shelves and cut the cartons open with retractable razor blade cutters, I bet I saw at least 1/2 dozen guys run a blade into their thighs. The cut wasn't deep, and they usually only did it once.

 

[Brian.Evans]

Safety box knives DO prevent accidents. Your employer is wise in not letting employees use whatever they want for work.

What you have in your pocket is your business, but what you use to do your job is theirs.

Sorry brother, I agree with RX. I have a 2" radial scar on my left index finger from a cut while cutting plastic wrap off a pallet with an actual normal box cutter, not even a "real" knife. Down to the bone. Nasty cut.

I've also worked in a Sherwin Williams distribution warehouse. Only plastic hook concealed blades for cutting off plastic wrap allowed.

From a business standpoint it makes sense. Much less chance of a work comp claim, lessening costs. Much less chance of damaging product, lessening loss, lessening costs. Jobs don't exist so you can play, they exist to make money. Deal with it, no sympathy here.

 

[EDCanAdamas]

Safety box knives DO prevent accidents. Your employer is wise in not letting employees use whatever they want for work.

What you have in your pocket is your business, but what you use to do your job is theirs.

I respectfully disagree. Those so-called "Safety Knives" cause more accidents because the same companies that are ultra-paranoid about liability tend to forget that the razor blades inside the "Safety Cutters" need to be replaced from time to time. The length of the blade also makes things MORE dangerous from my experience because it is so short, 1/8 Inch, it won't always cut the cardboard the first time. The relative dullness of these blades (in terms of cutting tough materials all day such as cardboard) combined with the minimal blade to work with, make it more likely that a worker will slice his or her own hands. Several people suffered from cuts, some of which were deep, at a factory I worked at several years ago.

I ran into a similar situation back then as the OP is finding now. Kept my knife in my pocket and used it when I really needed to. My safety, I.E. not slicing through my fingers/veins was paramount, especially when the lawyers and corporate types have never worked in a non-office setting.

As for the above post, box cutters are like "Safety Cutters" in that the replaceable blades dull and are not switched out. While a box cutter has a longer blade to work with, the edge is far thinner than a normal pocket knife, and therefore has more "give". This "give" means that like a "Safety Knife", more force must be applied downward to make the cut. When the blade is not doing the cutting, you run the risk of cutting yourself. Simple edged tool 101.

And yeah, It's their company, but it's still your fingers/limbs/veins/etc. Find a job where you are respected as a worker, not treated like a chattel.

 

[heavyfoldersarebest]

Bring a sword to work, not a knife.

 

[yepimonfire]

I respectfully disagree. Those so-called "Safety Knives" cause more accidents because the same companies that are ultra-paranoid about liability tend to forget that the razor blades inside the "Safety Cutters" need to be replaced from time to time. The length of the blade also makes things MORE dangerous from my experience because it is so short, 1/8 Inch, it won't always cut the cardboard the first time. The relative dullness of these blades (in terms of cutting tough materials all day such as cardboard) combined with the minimal blade to work with, make it more likely that a worker will slice his or her own hands. Several people suffered from cuts, some of which were deep, at a factory I worked at several years ago.

I ran into a similar situation back then as the OP is finding now. Kept my knife in my pocket and used it when I really needed to. My safety, I.E. not slicing through my fingers/veins was paramount, especially when the lawyers and corporate types have never worked in a non-office setting.

As for the above post, box cutters are like "Safety Cutters" in that the replaceable blades dull and are not switched out. While a box cutter has a longer blade to work with, the edge is far thinner than a normal pocket knife, and therefore has more "give". This "give" means that like a "Safety Knife", more force must be applied downward to make the cut. When the blade is not doing the cutting, you run the risk of cutting yourself. Simple edged tool 101.

And yeah, It's their company, but it's still your fingers/limbs/veins/etc. Find a job where you are respected as a worker, not treated like a chattel.

A regular box cutter wouldn't be bad. The blade on this thing doesn't even stick out far enough to reach through most things im trying to cut, requiring me to cut it from both sides. And i would do that as far as just using it anyways, but this job is paying me enough money (compared to alternatives) that i'm not risking a write up.