Lessons Learned-Carton Stapler

A nagging injury problem seemed to defy correction. Employees used a Stanley carton stapler to staple the corners of large, flat cartons. Occasionally, employees would pull the trigger of the stapler while the hand holding the corners of the carton was in the point of operation (ouch!). This resulted in a painful puncture injury that usually required medical treatment.

The manufacturer was contacted about possible guarding enhancements, but they really weren't interested. We were assured we were using the proper stapler for the application. We were quickly approaching the "Employees need to be more aware" stage, when one of our Maintenance employees came up with the idea to reduce the size of the throat opening of the stapler be removing or reducing the size of a shim. We were thus able to close the opening of the throat to 1/4" or below (with the cardboard in the throat) (see picture above) and have not had an injury of this type since.