Chubby it’s time you faced up to your fixation with shear handles and shear spindles, this must be the 4th or 5th time now!
Thinking back to all the British equivalents- ie lower grade safes of similar type and age to what the OP has posted here, all ours had horrendously crude spindles, mostly roughly tapered squares used with cast ‘T’ handles or knobs.
I’d associate built-in shear points as a far more recent addition like Doug says, but also on heavier grade safes where the potential torque on a much larger machined spindle was deemed great enough to pose a potential risk. I have to admit though I have no idea who first used them or when.
I used to see a lot of SLS Bankers and treasuries with spindles broken at the shear point. One cash office in particular had a wall lined with them where each door swung back against the next. Had a lot of work over the years machining replacements for those and many others.
might be worth you considering doing the same, as it as it was not only a good money spinner, but also might be therapeutic for your fixation/condition 🙁giggle):
