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I remeember it was safety knives only at college.

Current apprentice has been on the job for two weeks, said to him under no circumstances if he to use a stanley blade because he doesn't know how to use one safely. Nipped out of the job for 10minuites, come back he comes running back to the van crying for a plaster. Asked him what happened, turned out he cut himself on a stanley blade taking some old lino flooring up, wasnt even looking at what he was doing when he cut himself!
Said to him I tell you things for a reason, not just for fun!!!! (Apart from when he asked for a Fellatio cake in Greggs for me)
 
H&S gone mad ive always used a stanley knife,and yup ive cut my fingers a few times but i can still count to Ten with my fingers.Most building sites now as you all know,site manager wants you wearing gloves whats all that about oh yeah
H&S gone mad.
 
I have been working last couple weeks with a SE spark right nice bloke who has an apprentice...Guess what HE is NOT allowed to use a knife at college ? HAS this world gone FKN mad ? So he can go off and join the Army or have Sex but he can't ring a bit of SWA ?...Just gonna nut the door !

J

Apprentices can use knives, but not the stanley type.

Cheers..............Howard
 
The company I work for makes the fitters wear Kevlar sleeves when there using Stanley knifes.

They did try and make the electricians wear them too... I've managed to stop them so far.
 
Most building sites now as you all know,site manager wants you wearing gloves whats all that about oh yeah
H&S gone mad.
I was on a site for Baileys a few years back and we were instructed to wear gloves at all times withing the site boundary but because it's tricky terminating cables with them on we were allowed to cut the fingers and thumbs of them.
No one ever replied when I asked what the point of gloves was (It's a precaution against leptospirosis aka Weills disease apparently)
 
The biggest problem I’ve had is convincing people of the dangers of blunt knifes. The main reason I always used a Stanley or Tyzak knife. You can’t get the Tyzak anymore.
 
Yep,how i was brought up.A blunt knife is more dangerous than a sharp one but ONLY when used by someone instructed in its safe use.Mind you,i spent half an hour showing my lad (8 at the time) how to use a hot glue gun and ended up taking the skin off my thumb....
 
Worked on a site once, and the all metal stanley knives were banned (live bars below), technically we were supposed to use ceramic bladed knives aswell, but they agreed to allow us plastic handled knives.

I , and a couple of lads got one from a pound type shop (as we needed them that day), on the cardboard packaging a warning:
Warning Not Suitable For Children Under 4 Years !
WTF ?:joker:
 
Worked on a site once, and the all metal stanley knives were banned (live bars below), technically we were supposed to use ceramic bladed knives aswell, but they agreed to allow us plastic handled knives.

I , and a couple of lads got one from a pound type shop (as we needed them that day), on the cardboard packaging a warning:
Warning Not Suitable For Children Under 4 Years !
WTF ?:joker:

They must breed em tough where those knives were made :)
 
Whats a Blue Book job mate never heard of that

J
Blue Book is the National Agreement used on the power generation sites. But Stanley knives are " unwelcome" on most commercial/industrial jobs, not just the Blue Book sites. And as to gloves there are more varieties than Heinz offered to you on most of the commercial and industrial sites.
 
Currently working on a large site , its a gloved site no knives ,no steps ,ladders etc but they're more than happy to let you work in temperatures you would'nt leave your dog out in as for all the extra PPE it actually made things worse as people were overheating, safety glasses steamed up so you can't see anything

Sounds safe does'nt it
its about time they taught people some judgment skills and common sense.

Also with all the health and safety these days has anyone noticed there are more idiots about than ever, its undoing Darwins theories to some degree

Ps I'm all for health and safety but it needs to be realistic
The comment before about gloves preventing the contraction of weils disease is daft as most sites will issue one pair of gloves most workers are not going to wash or replace them which means they are worn until they fall apart ,so you could actually be wearing gloves all the time which may be carrying these germs, surely this would increase the chances of catching something nasty
I fail to see how any knife can be a safety knife, if it can cut material it can cut you, I bought an auto retracting stanley knife and its more dangerous to the user than a normal one

I like many people have possessed knives from being a youngster
ok you get a few cuts but you learn
nowadays its seen as irresponsible to have a knife for any reason especially youngsters (asides from the carrying as a weapon)
My lads 6 and 7 have been up the local woods with me where they have been told how to handle these tools which is what they are, and they now know how to be carefull and think before they do something , the reaction from people passing by is mixed from blokes remembering their youth to outright disgust by some people who say I'm teaching them to use weapons, but I just stress they are tools primarily and it takes an idiot to turn it into a weapon and I'd bet that they cut themselves more often than someone with experience of a few nicks
Most young apprentices I've seen have never really used a knife before which I suspect is why they always seem to cut themselves, saying that they are not taught how to use any basic handtools anymore at college.
 
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Totally agree. We are dumbing down basic skills to the level that many can't now function unless a fancy machine, complete with safety guards, is available to do the work for them.
A stanley knife is one of the most useful bits of kit an electrician can own (I have owned a locking one for decades), yet it's made out to be tantamount to carrying a loaded shotgun!
 
This thread reminds me of the ludicrous rules that shops have when selling knives/blades...

A few years ago I bought an expensive set of VDE screwdrivers from a large DIY chain and they insisted on checking ID to make sure I was over 18...

At the same time I was buying a 4 foot spirit level which could easily have been used to batter someone to death, but that could be sold to a 5 year old...

As I said to them at the time, if I was buying a screwdriver to use as a weapon, it would hardly be a boxed set of the premium insulated type would it?!
 
This thread reminds me of the ludicrous rules that shops have when selling knives/blades...

A few years ago I bought an expensive set of VDE screwdrivers from a large DIY chain and they insisted on checking ID to make sure I was over 18...

At the same time I was buying a 4 foot spirit level which could easily have been used to batter someone to death, but that could be sold to a 5 year old...

As I said to them at the time, if I was buying a screwdriver to use as a weapon, it would hardly be a boxed set of the premium insulated type would it?!

You may be violent but very classy :)
 
I have prepared a small document to assist forum members on the law regarding carrying bladed articles, this should not be relied on as legal defence but as a guide.
 

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