Safety knife inventor nets MBE

Bill Ireland conceived The Safety Knife Company’s flagship product, the Fish Safety Knife, 20 years ago. Its fish-shaped handle is designed to curve around the blade making it safer to use without compromising functionality.
 
Initially developed to help farmers cut strings on hay bales more safely, the product has become a regular feature in knife policies of a number of organisations. The original innovation has been further refined drawing on feedback from Health & Safety managers. Variations are now widely used across multiple industries.
 
Today Bill Ireland licenses more than 30 patents and registered designs to The Safety Knife Company.
 
David Harris, general manager of The Safety Knife Company, said: "Bill’s MBE is wholly deserved – it’s a wonderful achievement for him. We’re all very proud to be associated with an invention that has prevented countless workplace injuries and possibly saved lives. Innovation remains a core part of our business as we seek to continually improve knife design to enhance safety across different applications and industries.”