Exposed gears/chain

[Cory]

Originally Posted by efoote868

While I generally agree with this sentiment, it won't work in the real world if you're being audited by OSHA.

There is no requirement to comply with OSHA standards as a FRC team.

I'm all for safety but adding guards is often not actually more safe than teaching students real safety (like never working on the robot without it being disabled, or even better, off entirely).

The fact that volunteers will often invent or incorrectly interpret rules requiring changes to the robot (in this case adding guards) is a source of continual frustration. Nowhere in the manual does it say all pinch points must be protected from insertion of a finger. Obviously anything egregiously unsafe should be addressed, but that's not what is generally being discussed here.

People will reply with "But safety!!!", but there is only so much you can do to protect people from themselves and at a certain point the safety theater becomes a burden for everyone.

[DampRobot]

Originally Posted by Cory

There is no requirement to comply with OSHA standards as a FRC team.

I'm all for safety but adding guards is often not actually more safe than teaching students real safety (like never working on the robot without it being disabled, or even better, off entirely).

The fact that volunteers will often invent or incorrectly interpret rules requiring changes to the robot (in this case adding guards) is a source of continual frustration. Nowhere in the manual does it say all pinch points must be protected from insertion of a finger. Obviously anything egregiously unsafe should be addressed, but that's not what is generally being discussed here.

People will reply with "But safety!!!", but there is only so much you can do to protect people from themselves and at a certain point the safety theater becomes a burden for everyone.

Agreed. I would much rather have students protected by sound decision making skills than by chain guards you learn you have to add only once you're at the regional. Sheids etc do have their place, but chain guards are only really in a position to be helpful if you're sticking your hand inside an enabled robot. If you're doing that, you're asking to be hurt whether or not there are chain guards.

To draw a parallel to surfing: you can make everyone wear a life jacket before they can even look at water, but at the end of the day it's best to give people a healthy understanding, respect and fear of the ocean.

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by DampRobot

Agreed. I would much rather have students protected by sound decision making skills than by chain guards you learn you have to add only once you're at the regional. Sheids etc do have their place, but chain guards are only really in a position to be helpful if you're sticking your hand inside an enabled robot. If you're doing that, you're asking to be hurt whether or not there are chain guards.

To draw a parallel to surfing: you can make everyone wear a life jacket before they can even look at water, but at the end of the day it's best to give people a healthy understanding, respect and fear of the ocean.

I think there's an XKCD on this topic...

And this is exactly right. I also agree with Cory's "safety theater" comment: I was reprimanded earlier this year for not yelling "robot" in front of a virtually empty pit row. Is it technically safer to yell robot at all times? Probably. What are the chances that it will ever stop someone from being hurt? Near zero.

Here's a really interesting look at why school buses don't have seat-belts in them (generally): http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40820669/n.../#.VQCkwvnF_8o

This is safety design done intelligently and effectively.

[barn34]

My personal rule of thumb is that if a system failure could cause serious injury even while the robot is properly disabled and/or unpowered (perfect example is a stored energy catapault from 2014) you should definitely implement some sort of safety device for that system.

For example, if any part of our shooter latch system would have failed last year (pneumatic system, latch control, set point check, latch pin, etc.) it would have made for a very bad day for anyone with a body part anywhere near it even with the robot properly disabled. Thus, we made sure to diligently utilize a safety strap anytime work was required around the robot when energy was stored in the catapault and the robot disabled and/or unpowered.

On the flip side, we have exposed sprockets and chains on the intake of our robot this year, but we don't utilize a specific guard or shield. The reason is because anytime the robot is properly disabled, those gears/sprockets aren't at risk of moving and causing an injury. See the difference between the two situations? If you follow general safe procedures regarding robot/person interaction and making sure the robot is always disabled and/or unpowered, you shouldn't have a safety concern regarding open sprockets and chains. Does that make sense?

[s_forbes]

Originally Posted by Cory

There is no requirement to comply with OSHA standards as a FRC team.

I'm all for safety but adding guards is often not actually more safe than teaching students real safety (like never working on the robot without it being disabled, or even better, off entirely).

I can't recall ever getting to work on equipment in industry before going through a certification class. If it were as easy as educating people to not do unsafe things, why are there OSHA standards?

I think it's safe to assume that the vast majority of people that work on or around our robots are not idiots and know that sticking their finger into a chain will have bad consequences. Accidents happen when people aren't paying attention and inadvertently put their hand where it shouldn't go.

During testing this year, I was a few inches away from getting a finger caught in a floating idler, since I forgot it had been added to the robot, and didn't check that the robot was disabled. I can assure you that I wouldn't have been close to that spot if I knew that, but miscommunication, accidents... etc.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by s_forbes

I can't recall ever getting to work on equipment in industry before going through a certification class. If it were as easy as educating people to not do unsafe things, why are there OSHA standards?

Because OSHA exists to force the employer to create a safe environment for employees when they would otherwise cut corners to save cost.

[efoote868]

Originally Posted by Cory

There is no requirement to comply with OSHA standards as a FRC team.

I can tell my co-workers all day long to not be an idiot, but that won't prevent them from being tired, or sleepy, or hurried, or stressed, or distracted, or uncoordinated... in general, careless and prone to mistakes.

I can however engineer out risks whenever I'm able to; otherwise I'll put barriers and guarding in between the identified risks and my coworkers; when I find that isn't enough I will require specific safety equipment and procedures in order to keep them safe.