Knife Policy

I am looking for a good knife policy as far as checking in and out knives to production workers from the quality techs ... any help out there ?

We have our knife policy as part of our foreign material control program.  In that program we state: The use of sharp metal implements including knives, cutting blades on equipment,and scissors will be controlled.  This includes suitable controls both into and out of the plant, and safe disposal.  All utensils should only be used for the task for which they were designed.

Our procedure: The knives and tools will be kept in a locked cabinet and in a holder that can be identified.  The knife kit will be inspected daily at start up for cleanliness and any evidence of broken blades or equipment.  At the end of the shift, the knives and tools will be cleaned, inspected again for evidence of breakage, and signed in.  Butchers are trained on how to sharpen knives during production safely to avoid product contamination.

We created a simple sign out and sign in sheet for inspection that includes the number of knives, if the knives are clean, broken or missing.  The QA techs inspect the knives, document the check, and hand out the utensils to each employee as they check in for their shift.  The same process for checking them in at the end of their shift (we clean the utensils prior to checking them back in)

I am looking for a good knife policy as far as checking in and out knives to production workers from the quality techs ... any help out there ?

Hi Elle,

You might consider a Forum search for "sharps".

As per previous Post the Policy is relatively straightforward IMO. It's the Procedure which generates most of the discussions. :smile:

pre-ops check is always a good practice, knife storage in a designated place and the design and material of the knife should be safe and easy to clean