How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Just curious......how many of the red safety chips has your team gotten at any of the Regionals your team has attended?

Out of the ones you have gotten, have most of them come from other teams (your supposed to give away 5 of the 10 your team got when your team checked in on Thursday) or have most of them come from the Safety Advisors?

Does anyone know if the number of chips is directly related to the UL Safety Award? I cannot find any link between the two in the Manual.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

We were able to acquire 27. We won a Safety Chip award at the NJ Regional.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Wisconsin must have been a very safe regional. We got 35 chips and didn't even make honorable mention. I don't think that the kids even realized that we had them at Detroit, they were too busy working on the robot.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

303 got about 27 or so safety chips in Jersey, and got recognition.
And in Annapolis, we got about 38-39 and got the full U.L. Safety Award.
It varies per regional I guess.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

862 had 19 at Great Lakes and and 29 at Wisconsin.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

1902 had something like 52 at the end of the day, but the winner had some rediculous amount like 104.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

237 had 24 in Hartford and 36 in Chesapeake

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Team 176 got many safety chips from the safety advisors in both the BAE and UTC Regional. We ended up getting atleast 20 at each regional. :D

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

We totaled at St. Louis at about 23... about 15 of them were from saftey advisors... The team next to use ended up with about 32... Not sure who had the most though..

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Wowie. At Boilermaker, we had somewhere between 25 and 30 whereas at Wisconsin, we had only 5 (though one of our students was the UL Saftey Star of the Day for Saturday).

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

At VCU we got over 30, I don't remember the exact number but I think it was like 35.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

174 had 9 chips all together at the end of Buckeye. lol.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Wow I haven't posted on CD in a while

I was one of the safety advisors at the Boston Regional.

To answer the questions of the original post...

There is no absolute linkage between safety tokens and the award. The tokens are used more along the basis of a measure.

In my opinion what wins the safety award is the constant showing of safe practices around and "OUT" of the pit area. Not just in front of the safety advisors.

I hope this helps teams

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Ok, I’m not in favor of the safety tokens at all. At GLR, I saw the pit admin had out 10 chips for someone returning a pair of safety glasses! The amount of chips you get in my opinion does not matter it is how safe you are in practice. You may have a really safe team and no one knows about you, or you just don’t advertise it. I fell it is better to be safe than to act like you are safe. Truly, I really don’t care how many our team got, I'm just happy that we got through the competition and the build season for that matter without any injuries at all.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Still, isn't it better to be unknown for being safe than to be known for being unsafe?

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

I think we had 37 by the end of the BAE Regional. We were tied for 1st for the number of chips but we ended up winning the Safety Award.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Not really. So what is the purpose of the tokens? Basis of a measure? I'm confused. What are the criteria for the ULSA if not tied to the tokens?

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Did that happen to be on Thursday? The EMT's sat in the corner of the Pit Admin area. They were SOOOOO bored, all weekend long. They got called out to the stands once to assist someone who had fallen; other than that they only had to put on a few band-aids and help with one hangnail. Anyway, the guy on Thurs decided he wasn't going to just sit there, he got into the safety glasses reminders and even made a couple announcements. He also found the stash of safety chips and was passing them out left and right.

The chips were really just a gimmick to get teams to think more about safety. The number of chips was counted on Sat, but the Safety Admins really made the selection for awards based on their observations, not just on chip counts.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

we had about 70 at FLR and got mention

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

The ULSA is for the team that is an example for other teams in the area of safety. They promote safety in their home shop and at the event. They are typically pro-active in their approach. They do things like keep a neat pit and use ergonomically designed carts for their robot. They do things to help other teams develop a culture of safety.

The Safety Credits on the other hand are to encourage safe behavior among all the teams. It is a way for the Safety Advisors to say "Thank you for doing the right thing". It is a lot more fun to say "Here's a gift" then "Get those Glasses on". I'll bet it is more fun for the teams too.

I was a Co-Lead Safety Advisor for the Southern California regional. This was the first year for doing it this way and it was a lot more fun than last year.

We spent a lot of time wandering the pits and looking for safe behavior. If we walked by the first thing we checked was for safety glasses. If everyone in the pit was wearing the proper protection then that was an automatic two credits. You got another for having your battery disconnected during mechanical work or if your robot was on blocks while programming.

We gave them out for well planned and executed lifts, having runners in front of your robot warning people you were coming as you travered the Pits. We gave them out for having your tools stowed when not in use or getting caught while sweeping up debris and anything else we though was a smart safe way to do things. Hopefully we caught everybody doing something right some time.

We had 2500 credits to give out and didn't give away nearly enough, only around 1000. The top teams at our regional got around 30.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

we had 60 or so. The teams that were mentioned at UCF all had more that 70 (or something close to that. I don't really remember).

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

I know we got a lot more at our second regional than we did at our first...probably because we discovered what it takes to make a nice, safe, orderly pit area. We added things like shelves, spare parts bins, broom/dustpan, and a "wear your safety glasses" sign.

And our team safety captain did a great job of keeping other team members alert to safety issues.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

We got over 30 at Boilermaker.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

We had about 25 at UTC and we won the safety pins. It seems like it varies a lot between regionals.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Team 1598 got 46 at VCU. We did not hear any award given to the team with the most. We did have one of our students get the Safety Star Award for Saturday. I think it was a good program at VCU. It let the students know when they were being safe. We wore glasses and gloves all the time and got tokens for that.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

I don't know how many 648 had at Midwest but we lead with the most. Those little safety helmet pins are the most important award for me. I'd rather see everyone stay safe than win the national chairman's anyday.

[edit] Adam Reab won the Safety All-Star Award on Friday... and he's a rookie! Looks like we're growin' 'em safe in Illowa.[/Edit]

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Team 1402 had something like 12 credits, not counting the ones we kept as solveneers. lol, but the team that won the safty award at CFR (UCF) was 1448 and they had some sick amount like 188 or 189. something close to that.... and i wouldn't argue. their pit was much more clean and orginized than ours and everytime i saw someone there in their pit, they always had safty glasses on and all that good stuff.

Congrats to all the team showing how safe they are to everyone. and good luck in Atlanta.

(EDIT), whoops, just realized i spelled central wrong in my signiture

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

We won the UL Safety Award in Davis-Sacramento with somewhere around 40 credits.

Really, this award is an interesting idea. I don't think it justifies anyone to say "We were the SAFEST team at the regional", however it does promote a different attitude toward safety by providing a form of positive reinforcement. I personally saw a lot of teams creating safe methods of working; I'm sure the creation of this award is a direct cause. Like any award though, it is a judge's call in the end and should be treated as such. ;)

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

I would really like to know what caused teams to get outrageously high numbers of tokens at some regional... and what else a team can do for safety recognition. We made safety posters with good practices and hung them on the sides of the tent entering the pit. Also made signs to put on various parts of the robot and pit area for pinch points and potentially hot/sharp/dangerous spots.

We had about 50ish at FLR and I am just wondering what other teams did to boost their teams safety practices.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

When he safety judges come around, they are looking for safe behavior both in the pits and aournd the robot. Thhis means wearing safety glasses at all times, using gloves when using power tools like drills or reciprocating/jig/circular saws. Te safety tokens are so that teams can reward other teams for their behavior. The UL Industrial Safety Award is for the team that the judges found to act in the safest way. I have learned all of these lessons the hard way, and am in no hurry to repeat them. In the three regionals I have gone to, we have won all of the safety awards (2005 and 2006). As safety captain, I want to share what our team has learned:
-Safety glasses must be very comfortable. Get the most expensive kind, because it's worth it in the long run. (Forgetting that you're wearing safety glasses is a good thing!)
-Do not buy tinted (colored), shaded, or reflective safety glasses. With the tinted ones you cannot see certain colors (yellow glasses makes gas flame invisible :yikes: ) and the shaded/reflective ones prevent eye contact.
-Before the build season begins, gave a tool crash course and also a shop safety course so that new people get used to the safety rules.

And finally...

-Make sure everyone follows the safety rules that your team createss and make NO exceptions.

This is as much as I can think of. The very best safety captain is your own common sense.
Have fun, and always remember Safety FIRST!!!

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

So true, I had horrible saftey glasses at GLR because they always fogged up from sweating and stuff. I'm gonna be looking into ordering/purchasing some with my own money that are much more comfortable and less prone to being an annoyance (which is probably why most people dislike saftey glasses and neglect to use them around their own person work space).

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Yeah, I'm going to agree with this one. The cheap ($1 each) ones we used to have drove me crazy .. some instances I found myself leaving the pits just to take them off (this was several years ago). Safety glasses don't bother me anymore, probably because I'm required to wear them at work (ALL DAY), thankfully I have finally found a pair that is comfortable and fit me right. I found myself often sitting in the stands at our regional and not knowing I had them on ..

Anyways, not to hijack it .. but for a nice selection at a decent price .. www.safetyglassesusa.com - they're reasonably priced so you can order a few different ones and see which you like the best. If you're going to Atlanta, I'd suggest trying a pair of the indoor/outdoor ones .. they have a slight tinting on them that is perfect for the bright floor of the dome.

As for the Pit Admin person giving chips for returning glasses .. that just seems wrong to me. Even if you were borrowing them .. giving chips for returning them is just lame. Not to mention, if you return the safety glasses, you won't be wearing them .. which would mean that you're in the pits without safety glasses on, and you're getting chips for it? Cmon .. lets be real here.

I don't recall how many tokens we got, somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 or 50 at the Sac/Davis Regional. We came in 3rd for the Safety award. I was rather surprised, the large vise we had in our pit area, made the safety adviser cringe sometimes when kids brought reciprocating saws over and cut large things on it (Specifically, I recall a student with a 2ft 2x4 ripping it down the center .. of course I was watching it the whole time, it was still a little scary)

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

When i was Safety Captain at the LA Regional i was able to get 25-26 total chips. It was about 50%-50% from safety inspectors and other teams. And i did give my 5 away too.

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

at the palmetto regional we won the credit award with about 40ish chips

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

I was one of the Safety Captians for our team, and we recieved 59 chips at the Finger Lakes Regional (which my co safety captian and i along with a really cool girl from Chuck team 84 won Safety Star of The Day) and ended up winning The UL Industrial Safety Award.
We also Compete at the Philly Regional where we recieved 52 safety credits(I was also safety star of the day at Philly) and ended up winning the UL Industrial Safety Award as well.
~Remember saftey goes far beyond WEARING YOUR SAFETY GLASSES (but thats always a good idea)

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

Well when we were in Florida we got stunning 108 but at Purdue we got around 35 and Columbia only 32. Anyone know why Florida Safety guys were handing them out like candy?

(Not that I am complaining--I did get a cool safety hat pin)

Re: How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?
 

I don't know about Florida specifically, but I know in LA we gave out many more than some regionals.

As Safety advisors our reasoning was that the Safety Credits did no one any good sitting in the box. So we gave out as many as we could. This probably lead to a sort of "inflation" in the Safety Credits, ie each one was worth less than it might have been at another regional. OTOH there was a lot more "credit" floating around.

I think some might regionals might have been more focused on only giving credits out for exceptional behavior. This kept the worth high, but reduced the number in circulation.

These are different approaches and each has it's merits. I'm not going to say one is better than the other. Which is prefered might depend on how well teams practice safety at a given event more than anything else. It has been interesting to hear about the different events.

ChrisH