Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

'Sigh' Hopefully this is resolved and clarified for next year...

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

Yeah. The ladder thing took us off gaurd because we have a pit that needs a ladder to be set up so we borrowed the ladder that pit admin had for use to teams in our situation.

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

We also have a pit needing a ladder, so we improvised by standing on a wooden box which is less safe than a ladder I would think.

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

Yeah. In the meeting, they annouced that if you needed one you could ask pit admin for one. They had one for teams to borrow so we just used theirs(which was the same as the one we have)

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

If that's the case and they were letting some teams use their ladder, then why did they not let anyone bring more in?

Argh... I doubt I'll ever understand...

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

That was my question. They even had the announcer anounce that a team needed a ladder just after the announcement that ladders weren't allowed!

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

Our safety captain informed of us we couldn't use a hacksaw after a safety meeting. I had him go ask to double check and he came back saying we couldn't use one. I do not know who he asked to double check, so I can not verify that hacksaws were indeed not supposed to be used. What I can say is it all seemed a bit silly; because, I never heard any of the rules enforced. except when bringing tools in. It also sounds like the safety inspectors didn't know about the special rules either based on the comments in this thread. It didn't matter too much to us because we never ended up needing anything more than a drill. However, I do feel sorry for teams who may have needed more tools, and were not allowed to have them.

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

I heard a rumor from an event volunteer that one team's pit lost power because of their table-top power tools. I have no evidence to support of disprove this claim. However, a different volunteer was talking to one of mentors and told us that she had called FIRST who gave the order. I think it might have started as a venue or a power problem. The ladder thing was... odd though. And still unexplained.

Field Reset had no problem, however, pulling a ladder out to remove an awkwardly placed ubertube.

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

Our team was told specifically that we could not be using our hack saw when one of our guys was sawing lexan, :eek: We were one of the teams that were pushing hard to have this changed, we had a lot to do to our bot that included power tools. We were told about noon on Thursday that we could kinda use drills, but we needed to have a green shirt at our pit when using the saws all to make sure that we were doing it safe. Needless to say we lost half a day of working on the bot, time that we really needed.

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

I was at the mentor meeting that the event organizers assembled on Thursday.

They said no ladders.
They said you could bring in and use portable table top power tools if they met the criteria. The defining definition of them being portable was if one of the organizers could pick it up and carry the tool by themselves.

We were told that these changes or clarifications were coming from FIRST headquarters and that they had been on the phone with them for clarification. The new ladder rule was being imposed because of the FIRST insurance carrier.

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

Sounds like the insurance carrier should be informed of what alternate items were used in place of ladders.

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

If by that you mean boxes, yes. I saw people standing on boxes and toolboxes to do it which is even more unsafe than a ladder.

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

I think FIRST is trying to enhance the corporate experience.

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

You were allowed to use the ladder that pit admin had though. We had to use it. They announced that at the meeting for safety captains.

Re: MILWAUKEE TABLE TOP TOOLS BANNED?
 

I can understand the ladder thing, as silly as it sounds. At my place of employment, I had to sign a statement saying I would not climb atop anything, or lift anything overhead.