End Safety Theater

[Carol]

Originally Posted by robochick1319

OSHA's guide on lifting - https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/ele...als/heavy.html


And of course no one intends to lift at a pinch point and I'm sure the kids on your team are the strongest of strong but frankly gloves are needed. I don't think you'll find many real world professionals who doubt that.

Since one of the goals of FIRST is to prepare students for STEM careers, we should we demonstrating the standard behaviors expected from someone working in industry. Gloves are the standard practice in industry; therefore we should make them the standard practice in FIRST. Safety glasses (true safety glasses, ANSI standard) are the standard practice in industry. MSDS sheets are the standard practice in industry. Whether you think you are generally safe or not isn't the point; at some point these practices will save someone from harm.

On another note, the biggest hazard in picking up the robot is how most students bend from the waist to pick it up. My back muscles cringe every time I see that. They may not feel the pain from the resultant damage at the age of 16, but when they are older.........