I'm still new to quilting. I cut away from my body. I use a Martelli rotary cutter and have a suction handle on my ruler. I nicked my finger on my cutter early on learning and yikes, it was sharp.
My husband built me a table that is 4 feet by 8 feet and made it what he calls belly button high- it's made for me to be able to lean over easily. I really like that handle on my ruler. It keeps my hand from getting too close to the cutter.