I feel that safety captains and those who work with the safety program are often ignored or left out of the chief delphi chitter chatter.
So here is a thread to talk about the successes and the pitfalls of being a safety captain!
Iād like to know what kind of success yāall have had and what kind of problems have faced. This is the third year for Safety FIRST and Iām interested to see what progress weāve made!
How have yāall made safety ācoolā instead of ādorkyā?
Iām not a saftey captain because Iām not āallowedā in the pits. But I have been known to be the saftey glasses Nazi. I find that putting up āwear your saftey glassesā posters really helps people remember their saftey glasses. What other things fall under the "saftey catagory?
Our team doesnāt technically have A safety captainā¦ we just give the button to whoever is on pit duty during competitions, itās expected that everyone is safe and watching each other. Last year, atā¦I think it was at the VCU regionalā¦ there was a guy in a robot suit (dont remember which team ) dancing by the safety glasses table, holding a sign that said āWear your Goggles,ā and would point to the table whenever someone tried to enter the pits without them. I stood next to him, helping the cause, and juggled for about an hourish, pointing people to his sign, neither of us ever saying anything. We helped a good 20-30 people that could have lost an eye! Or even both!
I am the safety captain for my team, which is a really easy position because all you have to do is always use your common sense. I insist on members having safety glasses on at all times while working on the robot or with tools, because I have had many accidents where I was either lucky or actually wearing them.
Sometimes I think that teams simply assign people randomly for safety captain, which is totally wrong. Safety captain should be the one most familiar with the proper use and handling of tools, so that they can recognize unsafe behavior. I like tools, I know how to use many different kinds of tools, but I donāt like it when someone uses a tool in the wrong way.
ah, common sense, not as common as one might thinkā¦
Iām the safety captain for my newbie team this year. Weāll see how well I did when we all come home with all our limbs still attached ^_^.
Our safety plans will include stickers, poster, checklistsā¦we arenāt taking the chance of being disqualified '-.-. And these plans will hopefully involve Furbiesā¦though that particular plan isnāt really shaping up too well.
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 mentorsā¦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.
Iām 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 āSafety Kate.ā I sometimes threaten to wack people with robot parts if they donāt wear their safety glasses. :eek: I donāt know if the threats work, so much as the reminder. Oh, well. I enjoy being Safety Captain
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 donāt grow back. And it can take only one incident to get you kicked out of your facility.
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Team 964 is 964ās Safety Captain. Actually, we donāt have one as far as I know, but weāve got people doing nothing right now so Iām going to bring it up during tomorrowās meeting. I heard last year our captain was pretty efficient in enforcing safety rules.
Yeah, we know. Just that no one has stepped up. Iām 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.
Exactly. That is the true meaning of being a safety captain. Safety glasses are important but thereās more to it than that. I think it is more about ensuring that safety is seen by everyone involved.
Hereās 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 leaderās 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, thatās an easy landmark to look for to meet at.
) dancing by the safety glasses table, holding a sign that said āWear your Goggles,ā and would point to the table whenever someone tried to enter the pits without them. I stood next to him, helping the cause, and juggled for about an hourish, pointing people to his sign, neither of us ever saying anything. We helped a good 20-30 people that could have lost an eye! Or even both! 
