Pliers And Cutters Safety Tips

Pliers And Cutters Safety Tips

Most people don’t think of using safety equipment when they use pliers and cutters. However, using pliers and cutters can be as dangerous as using a knife, blow torch or other equipment. Whether you use pliers and cutters in a professional shop, in a home workshop, while doing hobbies, or out in the field, you need to have personal protective equipment to protect your eyes. Depending on what you are doing, you should also wear gloves, especially when cutting wire.

Abolox carries personal protective equipment (PPE), including eyewear and gloves that you should wear when using pliers and cutters.

Safety Measures to Take When Using Pliers and Cutters

When using pliers and cutters, make sure the tool is designed for the purpose for which you are using it. For example, you don’t want to use grip pliers for stripping or cutting wire – you need wire cutters or pliers designed for stripping wire. Safety measures include:

• Make sure you have the correct type of pliers for the job you are doing. Know what each type of plier or cutter does.
• Cut wire at right angles.
• Never use a hammer to “help” the pliers cut wire.
• Never use pliers as a hammer.
• Don’t keep pliers near or in high temperatures. The high temperature could affect the way the pliers or cutter perform.
• Clean and oil pliers and cutters regularly.
• Do not use pliers designed for cutting to tighten nuts and bolts.

How You Can Use Pliers

As long as you have the correct type of pliers, they can help make jobs easier. Some pliers are used to pull wires, while others are used to splice, tune, and bend. You can use stripper pliers to remove insulation from wires. Cutters will cut the wire. Some pliers have combination jaws. The part closer to the tip is for grabbing, pulling and twisting objects.

You might notice that the serrated jaws become flat toward the rear of the jaw. These are usually used for stripping and cutting wire.

Other pliers, such as water pump pliers, are used for removing large bolts or for extra torque on something that is stuck.

Plier Use Guidelines

When using pliers and cutters, but especially cutters, be sure to protect your eyes. You can wear safety glasses or goggles. Stripping wires, cutting wires, removing a stripped bolt, or any other use of pliers could cause wire and other debris to fly into your face and eyes.

Always be sure that you are using the correct type of pliers or cutters for the job. When stripping or cutting, be sure you not only have the correct cutters but that the size of the cutter is adequate for the size of the wire.

If you have to reach into tight spaces, you can use needlenose pliers instead of the typical grabbing pliers with wider jaws. Use water pump pliers for working on kitchen piping or water pumps on vehicles. If you need to extract a screw, be sure to use extraction pliers. When removing snap rings, use snap ring pliers designed for the job.

Always use pliers suited for the severity of the work. For example, don’t use pliers designed for light-duty work when you need pliers for heavy-duty use. When you try to use pliers for something they are not designed for, they could break and cause hand, eye and face injuries.

Rocking pliers from side to side while cutting wire could nick the blade and make the pliers dull – and they’ll never work properly once they are dull. Finally, always remember to periodically clean and oil the pliers.

Visit Abolox

You can find several types of pliers and cutters at Abolox, along with the safety glasses, goggles and gloves you need to remain safe while using pliers. Browse through our pages to find the pliers, cutters, safety glasses or goggles you need. If you don’t see what you want or need, call Abolox – we’ll source what you need.