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Box Cutter and Hand Tool Safety

Safe use of box cutters, safety knives, and the common hand tools of receiving, packing, returns, and replenishment, covering the employer duty for the safe condition of every tool used at work including tools an employee brings from home, the selection of auto-retracting or concealed-blade safety cutters over fixed open blades, cutting away from the body and the free hand with the least blade exposure that will do the job, retracting the blade before the tool leaves the hand, blade changes and disposal of used blades into a rigid sharps container, the cut-resistant gloves and eye protection chosen by the written hazard assessment, inspection of hammers, pry bars, screwdrivers, pliers, pallet pullers, and tape guns with removal of any tool that fails, controlled cutting of steel and plastic banding, and the response to a cut injury.

Audience
Receiving and unloading associates, packing and shipping station associates, returns processors, replenishment and putaway associates, cycle counters, area leads and supervisors, and maintenance staff who issue, inspect, and stock hand tools
Review cycle
annual
Last reviewed
2026-08-29
Revision
1

What is in the procedure

8 sections. Regulatory language is fixed and passes through verbatim. Sections marked customized get rewritten around your facility, your equipment, and your job titles.

  1. 01

    Purpose

    Fixed

    This procedure governs the safe use of box cutters, safety knives, and the common hand tools of a distribution center: pallet pullers and hooks, banding and strapping cutters, tape guns, hammers, pry bars, screwdrivers...

  2. 02

    Scope

    Customized

    This procedure applies to every employee who opens cartons, cuts banding or strapping, breaks down or builds pallets, closes and tapes cartons, or uses a hand tool anywhere on this property, and to temporary and agency...

  3. 03

    Responsibilities

    Customized

    All associates use only the cutting tools this facility issues, inspect a tool before each use, cut away from the body and the free hand, retract the blade before the tool leaves the hand, dispose of used blades only in...

  4. 04

    Procedure: Selecting the Cutter and Making the Cut

    Fixed

    1. Use the issued safety cutter. This facility issues auto-retracting or concealed-blade cutters, whose blade returns into the body of the tool the moment the trigger or slide is released or the blade leaves the...

  5. 05

    Procedure: Blade Changes and Sharps Disposal

    Customized

    1. Change a blade as soon as it dulls. A dull blade needs force, and force is what makes a blade skip off the seam and into a hand.

  6. 06

    Procedure: Tool Inspection, Banding, and PPE

    Fixed

    1. Inspect every tool before use. Turn in any hammer or pry bar with a mushroomed or chipped striking head, any tool with a cracked, split, or loose handle, a screwdriver with a bent or rounded tip, sprung pliers, a...

  7. 07

    Damaged Tools, Cut Injuries, and Reporting

    Customized

    Any associate who finds a damaged tool reports it the same shift and takes it out of service immediately: a cutter whose blade does not retract, a loose or wobbling blade carriage, a mushroomed or chipped striking head...

  8. 08

    References

    Fixed

    29 CFR 1910.242 Hand and portable powered tools and equipment, general, paragraph (a) of which makes the employer responsible for the safe condition of tools used by employees, including employee-furnished tools.

Regulatory references

Box Cutter and Hand Tool Safety: 29 CFR 1910.242(a)

Every SOP generated from this template cites the paragraphs below, with a plain-language summary of what each one requires. Citations are informational and are not legal advice.

StandardTitleWhat it requires
29 CFR 1910.242(a)Hand and portable powered tools: general requirementsEach employer is responsible for the safe condition of tools and equipment used by employees, including tools and equipment which may be furnished by the employees themselves. In a warehouse this means the employer owns the condition of every box cutter, banding cutter, hammer, pry bar, screwdriver, and pallet puller in use on the floor, and that responsibility does not end because an associate brought the tool from home, which is why this facility issues the cutting tools it wants used and controls what may be carried.
29 CFR 1910.132(d)(1)Personal protective equipment: hazard assessment and equipment selectionThe employer must assess the workplace to determine whether hazards are present, or are likely to be present, that make personal protective equipment necessary. Where such hazards are present or likely, the employer must select and have each affected employee use the types of PPE that will protect the employee from the hazards identified in the assessment, communicate the selection decisions to each affected employee, and select PPE that properly fits each affected employee. The laceration, puncture, and flying object hazards of carton opening and banding cutting are assessed under this paragraph, and the glove and eye protection named in this procedure come out of that assessment rather than out of personal preference.
29 CFR 1910.132(e)Personal protective equipment: defective and damaged equipmentDefective or damaged personal protective equipment shall not be used. A cut-resistant glove with a slice through the palm, a glove worn thin at the fingertips, and safety glasses with cracked or heavily scratched lenses are damaged PPE under this paragraph and are taken out of service and replaced, not worn for the rest of the shift.
29 CFR 1910.132(f)(1)Personal protective equipment: trainingThe employer must train each employee who is required to use PPE, and the training must cover at least when PPE is necessary, what PPE is necessary, how to properly don, doff, adjust, and wear it, the limitations of the PPE, and its proper care, maintenance, useful life, and disposal. For this procedure that means associates are taught which glove and which eyewear the assessment selected for cutting tasks, what a cut-resistant glove does not protect against, and when a glove or a lens is worn out.
29 CFR 1910.133(a)(1)Eye and face protection: general requirementsThe employer must ensure that each affected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation. The exposure this procedure controls is flying particles: a steel or heavy plastic band snapping back when its tension is released, and chips thrown from a mushroomed hammer or pry bar head.
29 CFR 1910.133(a)(2)Eye and face protection: side protectionThe employer must ensure that each affected employee uses eye protection that provides side protection when there is a hazard from flying objects. Detachable side protectors such as clip-on or slide-on side shields that meet the requirements of the section are acceptable. Banding recoil and chips from struck tools travel sideways as readily as forward, so eyewear for these tasks carries side protection or integral side shields.
29 CFR 1910.138(a)Hand protection: general requirementsEmployers must select and require employees to use appropriate hand protection when employees' hands are exposed to hazards such as those from skin absorption of harmful substances, severe cuts or lacerations, severe abrasions, punctures, chemical burns, thermal burns, and harmful temperature extremes. Opening cartons with a bladed cutter and cutting banding under tension expose the hands to severe cuts, lacerations, and punctures, so hand protection is required for those tasks and is not optional at the associate's discretion.
29 CFR 1910.138(b)Hand protection: selectionEmployers must base the selection of appropriate hand protection on an evaluation of the performance characteristics of the hand protection relative to the tasks to be performed, the conditions present, the duration of use, and the hazards and potential hazards identified. One glove does not serve every job: the evaluation weighs how the glove performs against the actual cutting task, how long it is worn, whether the work is wet, cold, or oily, and what grip and dexterity the task needs.
29 CFR 1910.22(a)Walking-working surfaces: surface conditionsThe employer must ensure that all places of employment, passageways, storerooms, service rooms, and walking-working surfaces are kept in a clean, orderly, and sanitary condition, that the floor of each workroom is maintained clean and, to the extent feasible, dry, and that walking-working surfaces are maintained free of hazards such as sharp or protruding objects, loose boards, corrosion, leaks, spills, snow, and ice. A used blade, a dropped cutter, a cut steel band, or a length of plastic strapping left on the floor of a receiving dock or a pack aisle is exactly the sharp object this paragraph requires to be cleared.

Compliance checklist

What an inspector looks for

  • The employer ensures the safe condition of every cutting and hand tool used by employees, including any tool an employee furnishes, and no tool in unsafe condition stays in service

    29 CFR 1910.242(a)

  • A workplace hazard assessment identifies the laceration, puncture, and flying object hazards of cutting and hand tool work, PPE is selected against those hazards, selection decisions are communicated to affected employees, and the PPE selected properly fits each employee

    29 CFR 1910.132(d)(1)

  • Appropriate hand protection is selected and required wherever hands are exposed to severe cuts, lacerations, abrasions, or punctures from cutters, blades, or banding

    29 CFR 1910.138(a)

  • Glove selection is based on an evaluation of the performance characteristics of the glove relative to the task performed, the conditions present, the duration of use, and the hazards identified

    29 CFR 1910.138(b)

  • Eye protection is worn where employees are exposed to flying particles, including banding recoil and chips thrown from struck tools

    29 CFR 1910.133(a)(1)

  • Eye protection used where there is a hazard from flying objects provides side protection, either integral or by side shields that meet the section

    29 CFR 1910.133(a)(2)

  • Cut or worn-through gloves and cracked or heavily scratched eyewear are removed from service and replaced, and no defective or damaged PPE is used

    29 CFR 1910.132(e)

  • Every employee required to use PPE for cutting tasks is trained on when and what PPE is necessary, how to don, doff, adjust, and wear it, its limitations, and its care, maintenance, useful life, and disposal

    29 CFR 1910.132(f)(1)

  • Aisles, docks, pack station floors, and other walking-working surfaces are kept clean and orderly and free of sharp objects such as loose blades, cut banding, and dropped cutters

    29 CFR 1910.22(a)

  • Auto-retracting or concealed-blade safety cutters are issued and used, blades are retracted before the tool leaves the hand, and personal knives, folding knives, and fixed open blades are not carried or used on the floor

  • A rigid puncture-resistant sharps container is present and usable at every station where blades are changed, used blades go nowhere else, and full containers are closed and replaced rather than packed down

  • Every cut is treated and reported the same shift, the tool, blade setting, glove, and task are reviewed after any cut, and repeat cuts at one station or task are investigated for a tool or task cause

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This page is informational and is not legal advice. Have a qualified safety professional review any procedure before it goes into service at your facility.