Cam you put a knife in a live toaster?

Question

There is an argument in my office about whether we should make our Work Experience assistant get a jammed slice of bread out of the toaster using a knife. We havent got time to unplug it as we need to make lots of toast. It will therefore need to be live.

He says it is highly dangerous, though my mate "Flash" reckons he is just workshy and like all kids these days, doesn't know he is born.

If he gets badly electrocuted, will we be able to blame his inexperience, or will we be held responsible for his death? It would be handy to know before we instruct him on what to do.

I meant, "Can you put a knife in a live toaster?"

Our assistant is called "Cameron" so I mistyped it.

Answer 1

Sure, if you wish. If you have a video camera to tape it, you can post it on You Tube. And, yes, you will be partially responsible for his death, but you'll probably not get convicted.

Answer 2

You can get the toast out without unplugging the toaster. The elements do not have electricity to the until you push the button which drops the toast into the cooking area. There is little to no danger of you coworker getting shocked from this. If the heating elements are on ....well he will get a pretty good jolt, and then the breaker feeding the outlet will most likely trip. Your safer taking the extra 2 seconds to unplug the toaster just as a precaution. As for the responsibility portion, you would be held responsible. Just because your employee is inexperienced doesn't give you the right to put him/her in harms way.

Answer 3

Just guessing, Mr. Fixer, but it sounds like "Flash" thinks that electrocution by toaster is a silly superstition and that manly men have nothing to fear. Perhaps we can also guess his feelings about seat belts, sunscreen, and motorcycle helmets. Luckily, owing to generations of mopes sticking knives into toasters, appliances and house wiring now have safety features built into them to protect guys like him from himself. But nothing is foolproof, and if he insists on doing his thing with that knife, he is still taking a chance.

A toaster works by causing a current to flow through a special type of wire with a high resistance to electrical current. The resistance converts the flow of current into heat that browns your bread. As with any electrical appliance, probing a toaster's innards with a metal item like a fork or a screwdriver entails some risk. You probably think that if the toaster is off, the coils are cool, and no current is flowing, it's perfectly safe to use a handy butter knife to dislodge your stuck Toast Masterpiece. It's true that it's safer than it used to be. If the toaster has a polarized plug and if the outlet it's plugged into is wired correctly and if the toaster designer put the switch on the hot line (the standard practice), then the risk is small. But I still wouldn't recommend it. You might slip and accidentally hit the lever and energize the heating elements. You're also taking the chance that those who installed key elements of the system were as carefree about risk as you are. For example, suppose the outlet isn't wired right and the hot and neutral lines are reversed--in pre-WWII homes, believe me, that's far from unusual. The toaster will still operate, but when it's shut off its coils will remain electrically hot even though they're cool from a temperature standpoint. If you contact the coils, the toaster might make toast out of you.

Inserting a metal knife or fork when the toaster is unplugged isn't recommended either. Although there's no immediate risk of electrocution, you could damage the toaster and create a future hazard. A toaster's heating coils are usually insulated from the metal chassis by a material called mica. Mica is a mineral with excellent thermal and electrically-insulating properties that make it well suited to this application. However, it's thin and brittle and if a sharp knife or fork pierces it and allows the coil to contact the chassis, you could cause a short leading to a blown fuse or, even worse, an electrically hot metal frame that could shock or electrocute someone.

Does that happen often? No, but it happens. The Consumer Products Safety Commission estimates that on average 15 people are electrocuted in the U.S. annually due to faulty or misused home electrical appliances, including toasters. Why take a chance on being the 16th? If toast gets stuck, unplug the toaster, open the crumb door on the bottom, and use something dull and nonmetallic such as a wooden spoon handle to push the toast out from the bottom.

Some other electrical safety tips: Inspect cords periodically for damaged insulation or exposed wire and replace those in bad condition. If you get a shock from an appliance, unplug it immediately and don't use it until you've corrected the problem--and remember, given the redundant safety features of today's appliances, a shock probably means you've got multiple problems, e.g., a faulty appliance plus an improperly wired outlet. Finally, never clean an appliance by immersing it in water--even after you dry it (probably the next thing "Flash" is going to try), water can be trapped in small spaces inside, providing a path from electrically live surfaces to metal parts you might come into contact with. The risk might not bother you, but why endanger friends or family?

It's up to you if you want to share all of this with Flash. Maybe let him be and allow natural selection to do it's thing before he breeds. :-)

Good luck!

Answer 4

If you stop for a minute and think this situation through carefully, you will discover that it would take less time to unplug the toaster and howk the jammed bread out and get things up and running again than it would to stand and carefully try and remove it with a knife, endangering the poor work experience kids life in the process. That's just my opinion but then again i am pregnant, my hormones could be making me think irrationally. Good luck.l

Answer 5

Obviously you can. However, it might be the last thing you ever do and you could end up as toast.
I suggest you do a time and motion study on how long it takes to unplug a toaster.

Answer 6

uhhh well if u direct him to do it knowing it can injure or hurt him yes u can be held responsible u sound like a very mean person and not some one a person would want to know grow up some quit trying to hurt people and far as no time to unplug it well that's the most ridiculous thing i heard takes a whole second to unplug it another second to plug it back in

Answer 7

only if you want to see sparks fly don't have time to unplug it it only takes a few seconds even a work experience person isn't stupid enough to be persuaded to put a metal object into the grill off a toaster hello also metal conducts electricity im still trying to figure out if your serious as surly no one can be stupid enough to ask this q seriously but then again if you are by chance related to jade goody then you probably are that stupid

Answer 8

Tell that workshy fop to jam that knife in and get that toast out! You see this is the problem with the youth of today - no gumption! No drive! And if he dies - then Work Experience types are free and plentiful. Tsk, tsk, tsk - you need to get your office in order mate! If he refuses give the option : knife or tongue! I suggest making an example of him and smash his face into the slots anyway - brand that slacker!

Answer 9

In less time than it took you to type and send the question, you could have unplugged the toaster, unjammed the bread and plugged it back in.

Answer 10

It would be helpful if you have your Last Will & Testament prepared before doing such an experiment, because there is a very good chance that you won't have time to worry about it after the event.

Answer 11

Sure you can, just make sure that all co-workers have appropriate funeral attire which should also do double duty for your court appearances.

It took more time to ask this than it would have to unplug the toaster.

Tell Cameron that I recommend him to look for other people at work to hang around with or to find another job.