Safety FIRST

[Ansem Retort]

ah, common sense, not as common as one might think...
I'm the safety captain for my newbie team this year. We'll see how well I did when we all come home with all our limbs still attached ^_^.

Our safety plans will include stickers, poster, checklists...we aren't taking the chance of being disqualified '-.-. And these plans will hopefully involve Furbies...though that particular plan isn't really shaping up too well.

[Justin M.]

Our team has been really unlucky in the past, people lost fingers, and somebody got aluminum dust in their eye when cutting with a jigsaw.

Those events in itself is our safety mentors...I wont even look at a piece of metal without safety glasses. The school has some crappy ones, so I went out and got my own nice pair at lowes.

[Otaku]

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



He's the one on your right

As for this year, we have no idea who it'll be. Probably somebody completely random.

[Ansem Retort]

I think it would also be the best thing ever if one of us came in full stormtrooper armor. How's that for protection?!

[BlondeNerd]

I'm safety captain for my team. They picked me randomly at competition last year 'cause I was a rookie and no one else wanted to do it. Now, everyone calls me "Safety Kate." I sometimes threaten to wack people with robot parts if they don't wear their safety glasses. I don't know if the threats work, so much as the reminder. Oh, well. I enjoy being Safety Captain

[Ansem Retort]

Originally Posted by BlondeNerd

I'm safety captain for my team. They picked me randomly at competition last year 'cause I was a rookie and no one else wanted to do it. Now, everyone calls me "Safety Kate." I sometimes threaten to wack people with robot parts if they don't wear their safety glasses. I don't know if the threats work, so much as the reminder. Oh, well. I enjoy being Safety Captain

How ironic: you tell them to be safe, then potentially whack them upside the head .

[robochick1319]

Well, has anyone had any major successes they'd like to brag about?

This is the third year for safety and I was wondering what improvements or rewards people have made or added to their safety programs?

[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.
l

[synth3tk]

Team 964 is 964's Safety Captain. Actually, we don't have one as far as I know, but we've got people doing nothing right now so I'm going to bring it up during tomorrow's meeting. I heard last year our captain was pretty efficient in enforcing safety rules.

[KathieK]

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

[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.
l

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.