9 replies to this topic

[PollyKBD]

Hi all! I’m looking to decrease the foreign matter contamination risk from box cutters/knives. I’m curios to know what you all use to get into your raw ingredients (bags and boxes).
Historically we have used knives which pose a safety hazard for our associates. We switched to box cutters but they have too many moving parts and/or too many grooves. I’m afraid they are at risk for falling apart or for not getting cleaned thoroughly.
So what does everyone else permit?
I’m also updating our knife control if anyone has any pointers or ideas. Check out system, blade replacement records...

[miseenplace]

currently using scissors. We train employees on cleaning them before and in-between tasks to avoid cross contamination. At the end of shift they are stored in a designated bin. no system is perfect but this one seems to work for us.

[MsMars]

Check out systems tend to work nicely if you have an issue with knives or blades coming up missing.  

 

Can I ask what with/how you're getting your box cutters so dirty that you have to worry about grooves/moving parts not getting cleaned? 

[PollyKBD]

 
Can I ask what with/how you're getting your box cutters so dirty that you have to worry about grooves/moving parts not getting cleaned?

They are being used to cut open bags of raw ingredients by our mixers. They tend to get their hands soiled with batter and keep going. I’m more afraid of moving parts coming loose.

[Perryggr]

Making cookies, we've had similar concerns with the prospect of box-cutting knives.  Because our dry ingredients are nut pieces, sugar, and flour, our mixing operators use a single, dedicated claw hammer to open boxes and plastic bags.  It's not a problem cleaning it daily and the product isn't damaged when the claw-end opens the bags.  Plus, we imagine it too large to unintentionally enter the production stream, .

[012117]

Hi, Polly.

 

I just dont have a photo with me, in the plant, in areas where there is low frequency of opening of packaging, what was used are scissors. In areas with large frequency of packaging opening, what was used was fabricated knife. This is made from one solid stainless steel structure with the approximate dimension.

 

length is around 5 inches, thickness is around 1 cm, one end is tapered for safety purposes and one end is fitted with a ring for easy handling.

 

The length is divided into 3 inches for the handle and the remaining 2 inch as the cutting part itself ( the 2 inch part is constructed like what you see in ax blade).

 

The design can be easily be cleaned, no movable part, durable due its thickness and no hollow bodies where dirt may accumulate. In addition, frequency can be established to sharpened the blade removing the cost for blade replacement.

[Ivan Ivanov]

Hello,

 

On the market have different detectable safety knives for different intended use. You can search in google for them - maybe haccp tools and the companies which offer it they should have and this kind of knives. They are produce specialy for food industry and the can be detected from the metal detector or x-ray if you have. 

Another way is how you say - to control the knives. you should have special instruction for their control - before working, in case of demage during the operations, in the end of work. But take into account that this should be by places where the knives is use - you shold identifie them by the place. Some companies use and magnet on the wall to ensure that when the knives are not in use they should be there and to be mre esy to check them.

 

Best regards,

Ivan

[MsMars]

They are being used to cut open bags of raw ingredients by our mixers. They tend to get their hands soiled with batter and keep going. I’m more afraid of moving parts coming loose.

 

If you are using these in production areas that are prone to soil, I would use scissors/knives to open packaging before I would use box cutters for the very reason you mentioned - too many moving parts to lose and hard to keep clean.  Box cutters are OK in staging areas, but I wouldn't use them in active production areas. As someone stated above, you can buy knives and scissors with metal detectable plastic so that even if one was damaged or broken, you'd still be able to account for all of the pieces. This coupled with a check in/out system should provide adequate sharps accountability. 

[QA_123]

For us the Inspectors have to sign knives out when they use them.  I have numbers on each knife.  When they are done with them they put them in a container to be cleaned.  If there is a knife broken I log it and replace it with a new one and add that number to the new one.  The Supervisor has to sign them back in each day so we know they are all accounted for.  The guys that need to open boxes use these  https://www.googlead...Q9aACCEI&adurl=   These are not to contact food just boxes.  

 

I very strongly stress to the Inspectors that if they misplace a knife they are to tells us ASAP so we can find it.  We have had them lose them a couple times on the line.  I actually reward them for telling me right away so they are not afraid to tell me.  As soon as they tell us we shut the line down until we find it.  We have actually found one in the fryer.  One made it all the way through the line and was breaded and battered and was found in the metal detector.  

[Scampi]

i have been in facilities where knives are numbered..............and attached to an employee for accountability

 

So John Henry only uses knives  marked 111 and HE is responsible for the integrity and returns it to the container when done for cleaning

 

It can be cumbersome for supervisors to manage this one.........if you can get employees to manage their own knives....so much the better

 

you can get "holsters" for knives and use plastic chain to form a waist belt to hold it