Learn Basic Knife Safety Skills
We are obsessed with knives, especially sharp ones. Using sharp knives makes food prep more enjoyable, and is safer than using dull knives. Professionally sharpened knives allow you to cut with less brute force, which can result in slipping and injuries.
Tips Before Use
- Make sure you are working on a stable work surface suitable for cutting. Working on an unstable surface might lead to losing control of your knife, which can have painful consequences. Working on surfaces not suitable for cutting can lead to the knife getting stuck or inadvertently cutting through the surface.
- Remove clutter from your work surface as objects can easily get caught under the blade while cutting. This can damage the knife, the object you are cutting, or result in you losing control over the knife.
Tips During Use
- Your blade should always point away from your body when cutting. Obviously, make sure nobody parts are in the cutting path.
- Make sure that you are not distracted or bumped into while using a sharp knife. Other people should be at a safe distance when cutting.
- Turn off the TV or anything else that might distract you.
- Use knives for their intended purpose only. Drilling holes, undoing screws or cutting the wrong materials with your knives can damage the blade and cause injury to yourself or others.
- Never try to catch a falling knife! Let the knife fall to the ground rather than trying to grab it as it falls.
Tip After Use
- Store your knives in a safe location. Ideally, they should be stored in a knife block or on a magnetic knife bar so that their edges don’t get damaged by knocking into other hard kitchen items.
- Retractable blades and the blades of folding knives need to be drawn back immediately after use.
- Dispose of dull or rusty blades in a blade disposal container. Never discard loose blades in the garbage or leave them where they can injure an unsuspecting person.
- Maybe fairly obvious, but worth mentioning: never toss a knife to someone. When handing over a knife, set it down and let the other person pick it up.
Enjoy your knives and be safe!
