[FRC Blog] Safety, Safety, Safety

FIRST General Forum
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Posted on the FRC Blog, 01/02/2018:

As we get ready to start build season, please take a moment to consider safety. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, over and over; nothing you are doing is worth getting hurt over.

Please review the Safety Manual, updated for the 2018 season and posted on the Safety page. Before things get crazy (and they will!) on Saturday, please take a few minutes to review your build area for safety hazards. Are tools in good order? Potential tripping hazards picked up? Plenty of personal protective equipment available for all? Does everyone know the rules? Just a few minutes up front can prevent a serious accident!

Speaking of safety, we’d like to congratulate the winner of the 2018 Safety Animation Award sponsored by UL. Congratulations, FIRST Robotics Competition team 2877, LigerBots, from Newton, Massachusetts, USA! Their video will be played at many official FRC events this season, and they will be presented with a trophy at one of their events!

Also, congratulations to our four runners-up:

FRC Team 8, Paly Robotics, from Palo Alto, California, USA
FRC Team 1153, Walpole Robotics, from Walpole, Massachusetts, USA
FRC Team 3181, Pittsford Panthers, from Pittsford, New York, USA
FRC Team 6024, Team R Factor, from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Congratulations once again to our winner and runners-up! And a big thanks to UL for sponsoring and judging the award!

And everyone – please think safety this season, and always!

Frank

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Congratulations to the winners of the safety animation!

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So many good entries! I love the winner (congrats Ligerbots), but I also couldn’t stop smiling at the pitch-perfect Pokemon animation from Paly Robotics :slight_smile:

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**Nothing you are doing is worth getting hurt over.
**

You are worth more than any robot, than any competition, than any deadline. Your teammates are worth more than any robot, than any competition, than any deadline. We want you to go home from robotics in better condition physically than when you arrived.

If you are unsure how to use a tool properly, ASK!
If you see someone being unsafe, gently remind them as safely as possible!
If you are injured while at robotics, let your mentors know! Use the injury as an opportunity to learn individually and as a team, and to correct the condition that led to the injury so no one else gets injured!

Safety isn’t a set of rules or fliers we’re meant to bludgeon each other with; safety is valuing ourselves and each other above everything else.

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Parts are replaceable, you are not.

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Heck, what’s the most expensive part on the robot? $350?

Know what stitches at the ER cost these days? An order of magnitude more. And that’s just stitches.

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