How many safety chips are teams getting at Regionals?

[Dan Petrovic]

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.

[Rosiebotboss]

Originally Posted by Todd Derbyshire

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

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?

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by DjAlamose

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!

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.

[Steve S.]

we had about 70 at FLR and got mention

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by Rosiebotboss

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?

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.

[paldrid]

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).

[MrForbes]

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.

[Kyle Love]

We got over 30 at Boilermaker.

[Imajie]

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

[DRH2o]

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.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

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]

[Nawaid Ladak]

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

[Chris Orimoto]

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.

[Tim Arnold]

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.

[Gabe]

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 ) 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!!!