Safety and tool training

Why this sits with the mentor

Every other job on the team can be owned by a student. Safety cannot, for three reasons: the students turn over every year, the person who authorises a tool has to be the one accountable for it, and if something happens the school, the insurer and the parents will ask an adult what the training and supervision were.

None of that requires an elaborate programme. It requires a small set of rules that are actually enforced and a record that they were taught.

The rules that prevent nearly everything

• Eye protection whenever anything is cutting, drilling or grinding: for everyone in the area, not just the operator. This one rule prevents the most common serious injury in a robotics space.
• Tie back hair, remove loose sleeves, cords, lanyards and gloves near rotating tools. Gloves in a drill press are worse than bare hands.
• Nobody works alone. No student uses a power tool without another person present and an adult in the room.
• Clamp the work. Hand-held parts spin. A vice or clamp is not optional on a drill press.
• Power off before adjusting anything, including changing a bit, clearing swarf or measuring.
• Robot on blocks or disabled when hands are near it. Most team injuries come from the robot, not the tools. A mechanism under spring or motor tension does not care that you were only testing.

Tools that need sign-off before use

Split your tools into three tiers and be explicit about which is which. Post the list where the tools are.

Open use: hand tools, screwdrivers, hex keys, files, hand saws. Show once, then anyone.

Trained use: drill, drill press, band saw, rotary tool, soldering iron, hot glue. Demonstrated by an adult, practised supervised, then signed off per student per tool.

Adult only, or adult-supervised every time: mitre saw, angle grinder, lathe, mill, anything your school's own policy restricts. Your institution's rules override anything here; find out what they are before the season rather than after an incident.

Batteries and electrical

The battery is the highest-energy object in most FTC pits and it is treated more casually than the band saw.

Charge where the charging is visible and never unattended overnight. Retire any pack that is swollen, has a damaged case, or has a frayed or repaired lead. A battery is cheaper than the alternative. Keep the leads from shorting in a toolbox, which is the realistic failure mode: a loose connector and a metal drawer.

On the electrical side: disconnect power before rewiring, do not work on a live robot, and keep a fire extinguisher rated for electrical fires in the room. Soldering irons get a stand and a rule that they are never handed to someone.

Keep a training record

A one-line-per-student-per-tool record (tool, date, who trained them, student initials) is the difference between "we take safety seriously" and being able to demonstrate it. Schools ask for this, insurers occasionally ask for it, and it takes a minute per entry.

It has a second use: it tells you who can actually operate what when you are planning a build session, which is why the record is worth keeping even where nobody is asking for it. Run it as a recurring checklist at the start of each season and it stays current instead of rotting.

Safety at competition

• Safety glasses are required in the pit at events, for everyone, including visitors. Bring spares. You will lend them.
• Closed-toe shoes, all day. Some events check.
• Keep the pit walkway clear and the toolbox closed when nobody is at it.
• Battery charging happens in one designated place in your pit, attended.
• Know where the event's first aid station is before you need it. Add it to your pit checklist.

The fifteen-minute season opener

Run one safety session in the first week, every year, with everyone present including returning members. Cover the rules above, walk the room, point at the extinguisher and the first aid kit, and do the tool sign-offs for the new members.

It is the cheapest thing on this list and the only one that has to happen before the work starts rather than alongside it.