Safety FIRST

[Eldarion]

Originally Posted by Otaku

Last year our saftey captain attended the San Jose Regional in full tactical gear and a gas mask...

I'm kind of suprised that they let him into the arena like that, what with the post-911 security and all.

[synth3tk]

Originally Posted by KathieK

Safety Captains are a FIRST-recommended position as per section 2.5.2 of the Manual. All teams should have one.

Yeah, we know. Just that no one has stepped up. I'm about ready to start assigning positions. Most of us just want to start building, which is fine, but we never dealt with this, and it needs to be addressed.

[Cody Carey]

Wat, you mean "Safety Monkey", Right?

[robochick1319]

Originally Posted by Carol

Safety is more than just wearing glasses. Do you wear gloves while handling sharp metal? When you lift something heavy, such as the robot, do you use proper lifting techniques? Are you using the proper guards and safety devices on the machines? Do you limit horseplay in the work area? Does everyone take off jewelry and tie back long hair? Do you have a first aid kit handy? Do you know who to call in case of an incident?

A safety captain can and should enforce all these practices. Actually, everyone should be looking out for everyone else. fingers and eyes don't grow back. And it can take only one incident to get you kicked out of your facility.
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Exactly. That is the true meaning of being a safety captain. Safety glasses are important but there's more to it than that. I think it is more about ensuring that safety is seen by everyone involved.

[KathieK]

Here's another idea for the Safety Captains - when you attend a competition, scout outside the venue and determine an easy-to-find place for the team to meet, should you need to evacuate the building, and communicate it to each person on the team. It will make your team leader's job that much easier if you all gather in one place so attendance can be taken. Do the same thing when you arrive at a hotel. If you are traveling by bus and it parks at that location, that's an easy landmark to look for to meet at.

[WahooWa]

Alright....major accomplishments. Well last year our team won the safety award at the Houston regional and we are becoming really successful in building an entire safety plan for the whole team to follow. Periodically we'll have safety experts come in and talk to us about safety. At the beginning of the "Green Machine Pilot Program", we had an expert on Hydrogen and Hydrogen safety from airgas come in and talk to us.

Currently having our lab on one of the largest oil refineries in the world has allowed us to integrate safety more into our culture than make it just about wearing safety goggles. The most important part that we have found in acknowledging safety is keeping our work area clean, pretty obvious right...Now this is often hard to carry through after you have worked countless hours on your robot and it's now tomorrow ...So I would recommend thoroughly cleaning your lab before any work begins.

Probably the most major cause for safety concern currently is the new mill that we just got. We were lucky enough to get a grant from ConocoPhillips. It was given as a volunteer grant for our two mentors who work more with us than they do at their actual jobs there. So recently we had a parent come in who has had 15+ years of experience working with mills and machinery come in and talk to a few students individually about the inner workings of the mill. But right now we're adapting to the mill very slowly, making sure any member that works with it is under constant supervision (mentor or student).

Also, don't use horrible safety goggles that makes it look like snow and white scratches have somehow managed to cover your entire robot . Go out and ask one of your sponsors or something to donate a few pairs even if it's only 1 or 2.

At competition, besides just having a Safety Captain, we also have one of the greatest pit managers EVER...Last year he did a GREAT job at keeping the entire pit in an orderly fashion; making sure all the tools were put back in there respective spots, keeping all the batteries charged and ordered, and, on top of that, he kept the amount of foot trafic in our pit area to a minimum. This is a great asset to have along with the safety captain.

Alright, any comments or questions, just give me a holler.

[robochick1319]

Wow, that is pretty impressive and also pretty cool.

I agree with your statement about damaged safety glasses. They may seem OK but it is best to keep them clean and in good condition.

We always clean our classes before regionals but we also carry cleaner for them during the competition. You can find cleaner nearly everywhere.

BTW, is it true this year that shaded glasses aren't allowed in the pits? I had heard this but I couldn't find it in the manual.

They should be banned, they are not very good.

[synth3tk]

Originally Posted by robochick1319

Wow, that is pretty impressive and also pretty cool.

I agree with your statement about damaged safety glasses. They may seem OK but it is best to keep them clean and in good condition.

We always clean our classes before regionals but we also carry cleaner for them during the competition. You can find cleaner nearly everywhere.

BTW, is it true this year that shaded glasses aren't allowed in the pits? I had heard this but I couldn't find it in the manual.

They should be banned, they are not very good.

Yeah, it sort of defeats the purpose of them. If you wanna look cool, make the other parts of the costume customized.

[WahooWa]

Alright, so now that another year has gone by, who had successful safety programs, who pulled in some hardware, who thought of that next great safety idea. And congrats goes out to team 337, good job guys.