Challenge: Be a Safety Fiend!

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Edit: I apologize for using the word Nazi, it was late and I had a creative spark. Some may know that my creativity extends past recommended and commendable actions. Thank you all for pointing this out to me...

I am proposing a challenge to ALL TEAMS AND STUDENTS to be strict in every aspect of safety. Take it one step above what FIRST requires in the handbook. Some examples would include:

1. Wear gloves and earplugs when operating any small power tools in the pits. <----I try to use gloves as much as I can... tight fitting gloves only though.
2. Stay aware of the events around you.
3. Carry around an EXTRA pair of safety glasses that you could hand out to those who don't have any to wear. This includes spectators and other team's members.

Those are only a few examples of how you could stay safe and do your part in keeping everyone else safe. In past years I've seen everyone (including judges on occasion) without proper safety procedures.

PLEASE speak up if you see anything remotely close to being unsafe.


Stay safe,

Jeremiah A. Johnson

[artdutra04]

While keeping safety in mind is a good idea, and to rigorously enforce it is commendable, I would urge against the use of the word "nazi" to describe it.

The Third Reich under the rule of the Nazis was one of the worst regimes in the history of mankind. Millions of innocent people died under their rule in complete and utter genocide, and to throw the word "nazi" casually into a non-historical context depreciates the real meaning behind the word.

A much better way would be to use something with a less negative and offensive background, like Safety Sergeant.

I sincerely [and pre-emtively] apologize if you perceive this as a personal attack, as it is anything but.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Gabe

You are wrong.
FIRST rules demand that you wear gloves whenever using power tools at the competition venue.
Look it up.

Gloves prevent injuries on all tools. If your gloves get caught in a power tool, then your gloves are not the correct size. A glove should fit tight (like a glove), and the extra layer of skin is better for your hand.

And FIRST safety rules are the opposite of industry rules as I understand them. Industry--if a glove (or other loose item--hair, clothes, etc.) could get caught in a tool, you don't wear it. Period. (Or else you get it out of the way.)
FIRST--must wear gloves.

I think I'd rather go with the industry standards. For one thing, I don't know of a glove that will both protect your hand and not be loose enough to get caught. For another, industry standards have been around for decades at the very least.

[artdutra04]

Okay, in the name of what genuinely is the safest thing to do I would honestly like to know the truth. I don't want to be doing the wrong thing because of false information.

I originally posted that wearing gloves while using tools such as a drill press, band saw, or table saw was dangerous, because (this is what I was taught in shop class in freshman year by a teacher who also served 20 years in industry) if the glove gets caught in the tool, it is more likely to shred into threads which get caught in the tool and "pull" your hand into the tool and cause greater damage. I was also taught that tight fitting gloves helped, but they would still "snag" in the tool nonetheless, unlike your skin, which justs cuts right through. To simplify it even more, I've was taught that anything on your hand, even rings, which can snag on the blade/bit cause much more severe injuries with cutting/drilling tools if an accident does occur than otherwise would have if no gloves were worn.

But the FIRST rule book says otherwise. I can see that this makes sense for certain tools, such as sanding, welding, using heavy/outdoor equipment, etc. where the glove would provide another layer of protection without the added risk of having it snag in the tool. I searched through OSHA's guidelines, and honestly I cannot find anything in the OSHA guidelines that says gloves must/should be worn as a PPE while using 'shop' tools such as saws or drills. I find a lot related to temperature, welding, electrical, and chemical protocols, but nothing related to cutting/drilling tools.

Honestly, I've been following the advice of my freshman shop teacher for the past four years and I haven't been wearing gloves while using cutting and drilling shop tools. But now I am genuinely confused about what really is safer (depending on which tool you are using): gloves or no gloves? (Edit: I've now been able to confirm through multiple sources that not wearing gloves is indeed safer than wearing gloves for using cutting/drilling tools. Now I kinda feel jipped for receiving negative rep (the first time ever for me!) for a post in which I was correct. Oh well, they're just dots.)

[Rich Wong]

Originally Posted by Budda648

Nazi:
3. Sometimes Offensive. (often lowercase) a person who is fanatically dedicated to or seeks to control a specified activity, practice, etc.: a jazz nazi who disdains other forms of music; tobacco nazis trying to ban smoking.

Jeremiah A. Johnson

Your selection of word maybe offensive to some people at the FIRST events which includes your team members, other teams, parents and judges.

You made the call.

[ChrisMcK2186]

I was the team safety captain at VCU and several people were less than thrilled about being told to wear glasses at all times in the pits and to tie up hair but I would much rather not be liked by all and have my entire team return home with all digits and peepers than to be best friend of a team of 4 fingered, eye-patch toting highschoolers.

Some ideas to hold to when being safety captain/nazi:

1)Glasses at all times. Not only FIRST regulations but also common sense. Check with the official safety personel wandering the pits to see what is legal. In VCU if you could see their eyes, it was legal.

2)Keep your area clean. A clean pit translates to a safe pit. You will bot be running around, tripping over power tools and blades looking for the right screw driver. Bring extra tables or convert your crate to a work space.

3) Keep aisles clear. I heard more cluttered aisle complaints by the safety inspectors than any other infraction but goggles. Clear aisles allow for your bot to not get damaged and allows for safe movement around pits.

4) Tape electrical cords to the floor to prevent trip hazards.

5) Wear gloves when handling the crate to avoid splinter, when grinding metal, sanding, or welding, gloves will give you that extra skin you will love.

6) Keep pit workers to a minimum. As much as the entire team wants to help, more people in the pit reduces elbow room, raising the risk of injury. This is the hardest to enforce, so work out a rotation schedule so everybody can touch the bot.

Being the friend of all team mates won't be easy but they will ultimatly be happier if they don't get hurt.

Chris

[Zero-Bee]

Well, I've been dubbed our Safety Czar, do I think that works.

One things that earned our team the Safety Judges award (the one acheived by those who earn the most saftey credits), one thing I always tried to do was escorting other teams. Alot of robots need to move through the pits, and this is especially tough because of all the people. Some teams don't have a very loud vioce. I, on the other hand, am an actor, so I know exactly how to project my voice. I could clear paths for teams, and many captains and safety judges gave me credits for it. I'm not saying you should only do it for the credit potential, but it's a safe practice that needs to be used.

I might hold a workshop on it in the Annapolis Regional. I think it could prove useful.

Another safe practice is a safety inspection. Ever hour and a half, I had a checklist for me to go through. It kept our area very clean, and left a very nice impression on the judges.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

I apologzie for using the term Nazi, but I was thinking in terms of the Soup Nazi from that infamous Seinfeld episode... I don't know. Sorry. Wasn't thinking straight.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Originally Posted by EricH

And FIRST safety rules are the opposite of industry rules as I understand them. Industry--if a glove (or other loose item--hair, clothes, etc.) could get caught in a tool, you don't wear it. Period. (Or else you get it out of the way.)
FIRST--must wear gloves.

I think I'd rather go with the industry standards. For one thing, I don't know of a glove that will both protect your hand and not be loose enough to get caught. For another, industry standards have been around for decades at the very least.

I've soaked my gloves in water and then let them dry on my hand to conform tightly and fittingly to my hands. Afterwards, only I can wear them and there's not a bit left loose. Yeah, that tight. I realize how non-conforming gloves would get caught.

[Nick Seidl]

Godwin's Law invoked straight from the thread title.

I understand wanting to be safe, but let's not be ridiculous about it. We can't live in bubbles. The ultimate safe thing would to just stay home. You know, where you can accidentally fall off the couch and get carpet burn.

The best thing to do is just think about what you are doing, and be aware of your situation at all times. That is the ultimate protection against injury. Ask yourself "How can I prevent any reasonably foreseeable problem here, and who or what around me could be affected?"

[John Gutmann]

Well, if you wanna get nitty gritty, then any gloves shouldn't get caught because you should have your hands that close to a blade/bit. But of course we all know that will never happen so, for me I wouldn't be wear gloves. Even if they are tight gloves. They restrict my sense of feel, make my hands less flexible, etc. Besides, I have good reaction time. Maybe it would be safer to get just dull tools...I have hit my hand on bandsaw blades many time and haven't gotten cut yet! Maybe we should get some officials in certain area that give safety "classes" so we don't need te rediculous rules.

[!DOM!]

Creativity isn't an excuse for a term which could seriously offend people.

[Jessica Boucher]

It's been altered. Jeremiah, if you have an alternate word you would like to use, please let me know.

JAB

[Lil' Lavery]

Alright, I've posted this in 2 or 3 other thread already, but gloves are NOT TO BE WORN WHEN WORKING WITH POWER TOOLS. You wear gloves when welding, brazing, or doing chemical work, but NEVER WEAR GLOVES when operating power tools. I don't care how form fitting they are. It's a plain bad idea. In the BEST case, a glove might get caught and pull off of your hand, but you might not be so lucky, you might pull away with a few less fingers. Gloves are a bad idea.
Need more proof, consult some of the following threads:
FIRST injury stories
gloves
safety animation

[EricH]

Originally Posted by sparksandtabs

Maybe it would be safer to get just dull tools...

Also not a good idea. Any Boy Scout above Second Class rank could back me up that one of the most important rules about knives is to keep them sharp, and I mean sharp! (For a pocketknife, sharp is defined as not being able to see light reflecting off the edge of the blade.) The reason: a sharp tool is less likely to slip and fly into x item (hand, robot, computer, eye...err...safety glasses, the person in the next pit, you name it) than the same tool with a dull blade. Even a dull tool can still cut you badly, and it might even do worse damage than a sharp one.