Use of multi tools

[AndrewGrant]

My drama school has recently banned the use of Leathermans and other such multi tools due to the Health and Safety Committee ruling that due to recent accidents they are a hazard.

 

Whilst fully respecting their decision to do this I am writing to request those of you in the industry who do and don't use multi tools to give me your oppinion to what they are like and how often you use them or see them being used in your place of work or places that you visit.

 

There has been some disagreement from the Technical and Stage Managements students here at LAMDA as to this ban, and I think a carefully worded letter might just let the committee relax the rules to permit their use but restrict the use of them to certain activities.

 

I look forward to any comments!

 

Thanks.

[Bryson]

It very, very much depends on what job you are using them for. I use mine for: Cutting that one last piece of gel, or cutting a couple of bits of lx tape on the truss, or tightening up the odd bolt set. Basically, they're useful for when you are a fair way away from the proper tools, or if you have a single, one minute job to do that it would be inefficent to go and fetch the real tool.

 

If I'm cutting a few bits of gel, or locking off a few lanterns, or changing plugs, it's always easier to go and get the proper tool.

 

Safety? I'm not sure what kind of accidents you could have with a multitool that you wouldn't have with a real tool? Is it the inferior grip that presents the hazard? Can you give an example?

[pritch]

My personal opinion is that a multitool is a valuable thing to have, but is not a substitute for having the correct tool to hand. If the correct tool can easily be obtained, then it should be used.

 

However if the alternative is to, say, climb down the scaffold and then climb it again, I'd argue that it's safer to use the multitool.

 

I also think that instead of people going and getting the correct tool, it's going to lead to more people improvising and potentially ending up doing something more dangerous than you could possibly do with a multitool. Whilst the best way to wire a plug is, and always will be to use a screwdriver, a pair of side cutters and a wire stripper, people can and will do it using a multitool. You can also do it using only a stanley knife; it'll work, but you stand a great chance of drawing blood, and you'll never get the thing properly secured.

[Roderick]

As Bryson requested, it would be good to have some samples of incidents with multi-tools that would explain this ban.

I would argue that a multi-tool is not more dangerous than any other tool, if used properly. Since you are a school, it would make much more sense to teach people how to use tools (not just multi-tools) properly.

And a warning: there are many cheap copies of the Gerber or Leatherman multi-tool which are vastly inferior. I would support a ban of those as they will increase the risk of injury.

[just_call_me_MJ]

when I bought my first letherman a long time ago

the guy at the shop warned me for the sharp blade of the knife.

the he accidently cutted his hand with it while trying to close the tool.

I just said "hmm ok I believe you " :D

[GridGirl]

I use mine for: Cutting that one last piece of gel, or cutting a couple of bits of lx tape on the truss, or tightening up the odd bolt set. Basically, they're useful for when you are a fair way away from the proper tools, or if you have a single, one minute job to do that it would be inefficent to go and fetch the real tool.

 

This is also pretty much what I use mine for as well. I don't ever go to work without it, and I'd use it several times most days. I find the screwdrivers are a pain to use for anything more than one screw (particularly since I broke my small screwdriver blade!) but I use the scissors, knife and pliers a lot. The only accidents restricted to multitools that I've come across have been due to user error - not locking the blades properly in place before using them.

[Guest lightnix]

My drama school has recently banned the use of Leathermans and other such multi tools due to the Health and Safety Committee ruling that due to recent accidents they are a hazard.

Safety? I'm not sure what kind of accidents you could have with a multitool that you wouldn't have with a real tool?...

That's what's puzzling me as well

 

BranVan39, what were the "recent accidents" to which you refer? Did they happen in the college or in the outside world?

 

To me, the situation as reported sounds ridiculous and carries echoes of this recent thread. All tools are potentially hazardous if used incorrectly and surely, the way to deal with this (as with any hazard) is to minimise it through risk assessments and create a safe system of work regarding tool use.

 

I can't recall ever hearing of a serious accident directly involving the correct use of a multitool. The only mishaps I've ever had with my Wave are a cut thumb (from running it down the blade when brand new, to see how sharp it was :D ), a couple of blood blisters from getting pinched when the pliers slipped and a few pinched fingers when a screwdriver bit has suddenly folded under pressure(although this can't happen on the new Wave, because they lock). Pretty well all these things could have happened with proper tools and I don't see what makes a multitool intrinsically more hazardous.

 

I view my Leatherman as a supplement to my toolkit, rather than as a replacement for it. I use it mostly for quick jobs, like cutting gel, tightening things and remaking the odd end of a piece of TRS. I find the inside of the handle great for tightening wingbolts (maybe not what it was designed for, but it fits most types very well) and frequently use it while fine focussing profiles - to tap roughly positioned shutters into an exact setting. I also use it at home and on holiday for a multitude of small tasks and it's "always" on my belt, ready for use at a moment's notice.

 

The only thing that "really" worries me about multitools occasionally, is their lack of insulation, but I'm not sure how you could make a nice, compact one with all the tools and 1000V protection.

[andy_s]

When I went to drama school, it was compulsory to have a "multitool" consisting of: panel saw and tenon saw (risk of sawing through fingers), 20oz claw hammer (risk of hitting thumb) ratchet slotted screwdriver (pre pozi - risk of blade slippng and gouging hole out of skin), non-retracting stanley knife (risk of death from arterial bleeding if you are sloppy about storage) try square (risk of getting obsessed with the perfect saw cut) and a full set of brushes and fitches (risk of humiliation because I'm really not very good at sceninc art.) Oh and this all had to kept in a locker, rather than in a convenient holster attached to your belt, so risk of trapping fingers in the locker door.

 

 

I find it really hard to believe that multitools have been banned. what about the hand tools and bench tools (circular saws, band saws, morticers, grinders, planers etc) which we were taught to use (at least to a basic level) Can't the tutors "teach" the students how to use a tool (multi or otherwise) safely? or are we training a generation of stage managers who aren't allowed to sharpen a pencil unless they have a properly designed machine fit for purpose with all recommended guards in place?

[Seano]

One problem I've noticed with Leathermans (Leathermen?) et al, is that sometimes they give enthusiastic numpties the leverage to do damage that they wouldn't manage by hand. I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem in a drama school though. :D

[Simon Lewis]

The only thing that "really" worries me about multitools occasionally, is their lack of insulation, but I'm not sure how you could make a nice, compact one with all the tools and 1000V protection.

 

Given the hierarchy of procedures that the Electricity at Work regs establishes to avoid live working, and the comments in this thread concerning the right tool for the job, I think an insulated multitool would actually be quite dangerous ;-)

 

Simon

[w/robe]

When I went to drama school, it was compulsory to have a "multitool" consisting of.....

 

Did this not also include stone axe and trepanning tool?

 

These days the drama school you attended include a Gerber in the toolkit that the students must purchase.

Students are not allowed to use any of their own or the colleges tools until they have been instructed in there safe use. This is obviously easier if all students have identical tools.

[andy_s]

When I went to drama school, it was compulsory to have a "multitool" consisting of.....

 

Did this not also include stone axe and trepanning tool?

 

These days the drama school you attended include a Gerber in the toolkit that the students must purchase.

Students are not allowed to use any of their own or the colleges tools until they have been instructed in there safe use. This is obviously easier if all students have identical tools.

 

cheeky. I think the second years had the stone axe but they'd been phased out by the time of the january intake I was part of....

 

(I apologise to other readers for having a conversation here when I could walk down the stairs and do it face to face...)

[AndrewGrant]

The most recent accidents referred to are a blade slipping whilst cutting gel and somebody cutting a finger (minor injury) and more further back someone catching a finger when the pliers slipped. Neither requiring much more than basic first aid.

[Andrew C]

This is obviously easier if all students have identical tools.

Thus rendering the student clueless when released into the big bad world to find that they have only been trained in the use of right handed screwdrivers! :)

[MarkPAman]

................blade slipping whilst cutting gel...............catching a finger when the pliers slipped.

 

 

Are those not both things that could happen with "normal" tools.?