Mini-Project: Run a Mock Pit Safety Inspection

The best preparation for a UL Safety Advisor visit is to inspect yourselves before the advisor does. FIRST’s Safety Advisors focus on the combination of individual and team safety behaviors, safe physical conditions, and your safety outreach to other teams - so practice all three. (Remember: there is no longer a standalone judged safety award, but safe practices are required for eligibility for every judged award, so this work pays off broadly.)

Step 1 - Assign roles. One student plays the safety advisor with a clipboard; two others demonstrate normal pit work (charging a battery, working on the robot, moving it on a cart). Everyone wears eye protection.

Step 2 - Score against a real rubric. Walk the pit and rate each item Pass / Fix-now / Watch:

• PPE & behavior: safety glasses on everyone (including visitors), closed-toe shoes, secured hair/clothing, lifting with the knees.
• Physical conditions: condition of hand tools and power tools, no frayed power cords, no daisy-chained strips, safe battery handling and charging area, walkways clear, no food.
• Equipment readiness: in-date first aid kit, accessible Class C-rated extinguisher, battery spill kit, SDS binder present.
• Robot handling: moved with a spotter, never carried solo, energy dissipated before pit work (your LOTO step).

Step 3 - Stage a near-miss and log it. Deliberately introduce one hazard (a coiled cord, a battery on a cable) and have the ‘advisor’ catch it. Advisors value teams that document how they respond to issues and near-misses far more than teams claiming a perfect record.

Step 4 - Write a Corrective and Preventative Action (CAPA) entry. Use a structured format:

Date: 2026-03-07
Hazard / near-miss: Battery sitting on bench by its cable
Immediate correction: Moved battery into rack; tagged cable for inspection
Root cause: No defined battery staging zone
Preventive action: Add labeled battery rack; add to opening checklist
Owner / due: Safety Captain / next meeting
Status: Closed

Step 5 - Keep a running safety event log. Each entry is one row showing what improved that day. Over a season this log becomes strong evidence of a living safety culture and a genuine driver of fewer injuries.

Step 6 - Practice the interview. Advisors talk to any team member, not just leadership. Run a 2-minute mock Q&A: ‘Where’s your extinguisher? What’s your battery retirement rule? Show me how you make the robot safe to work on.’ If a random member can answer, your culture is real. The deliverable is a completed scorecard plus at least one closed CAPA entry filed in your binder.

Key takeaways

• Self-inspect on a Pass/Fix-now/Watch rubric covering PPE, physical conditions, equipment, and robot handling.
• Document near-misses and corrective actions; advisors reward response over a claimed perfect record.
• Use a CAPA format and a running safety event log as evidence of a living safety culture.

This lesson was adapted from learnfrc.com.