Guillotine Cutter Safety - Don't Cut Off Your Fingers By Jeff McRitchie At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

If there's a hazard in any office or workroom, it's the guillotine paper-cutter. Every year, hundreds of people across the country have paper cutter accidents that could have easily been prevented if simple safety rules had been followed and common sense had been used. The extremely sharp blade on this type of cutter, along with the force used in bringing the blade down on to the paper, make it way too easy for someone to cut one's self or - even worse - lose a finger to the blade. Luckily, every paper cutter has three important safety features that can be used to avoid an accident. These features are...

The blade guard, which is the most important safety feature on a guillotine paper cutter. Many paper cutters have a metal bar approximately 1/2" away from the blade. However, the best cutters will have a plastic guard that prevents a user's fingers from getting anywhere near the blade. Unfortunately, many people tend to remove the blade guard, saying that it gets in the way of the cutting. That may be true, but the blade guard is there for a reason: for your safety. So leave it be!

The blade latch. Guillotine paper cutters come with a latch at the front of the cutter that locks the blade in the closed position. Sometimes this is a wire that hooks over the blade's handle; other times, the latch is a piece of metal that connects to the bottom of the handle. What the latch does is ensure that the blade isn't exposed when the paper cutter isn't being used. This prevents a person from accidentally running his or her hand along the blade or grabbing it, thereby preventing a painful (and bloody) injury that could be life-threatening.

The tension spring. The word "guillotine" probably conjures up images of a blade coming down at break-neck speed. However, guillotine paper cutters have a feature called a tension spring to prevent this from happening. The tension spring is attached to the back of the blade and prevents the blade from going into free-fall. Needless to say, the tension spring should never be removed from a paper cutter. If the spring becomes damaged, it should be repaired promptly. The paper cutter should not be used until the spring has been repaired or replaced.

Finally, there is a fourth item that can be used to ensure one's safety when using a paper-cutter: common sense. Be careful when using a paper cutter because even with the aforementioned safety features, accidents can - and do - still happen. Don't use a paper cutter when you're rushed, distracted, tired, intoxicated, or otherwise can't give the task at hand your full and complete attention. Sure, you may be in a hurry to complete a project, but no project is worth a nasty cut or the loss of a finger. (Or worse!) Paper cutters are valuable office tools and can be very helpful, but they can also be extremely dangerous. So please - be careful when using them!

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