Safety

Instilling a culture of safety is a value that every individual in the FIRST community must embrace as we pursue FIRST’s mission and vision. FIRST Robotics Competition has adopted safety as a core value and has established the framework for safety leadership in all aspects of the program.

FIRST believes that the teams who take the lead in developing safety programs and policies have a positive and lasting impact on each team member, mentor, their communities, and their present and future work places. FIRST recognizes the teams that demonstrate safety throughout their programs and are truly committed to developing and nurturing a safety culture.

Safety Manual

To help teams understand and implement safe practices, the FIRST Safety Manual provides information on the FIRST Safety Awareness and Recognition Program.

**UL Solutions & FIRST Robotics Competition Safety Learning Portal**

The online safety training is available for all FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge teams through the Safety Learning Portal. This training is designed to complement a team’s current safety program by providing more in-depth training on the following topics:

Safety Manual Training
Fire Extinguisher and Safety Awareness
Hand and Power Tool Safety Awareness
Hazard Communication – Safety Data Sheets
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Awareness
Recognizing Electrical Hazards Awareness
Lockout/Tagout Awareness
Hearing Conservation Awareness

The portal is a valuable resource to all team members and mentors. Training modules can be viewed individually or can be assigned to team members to watch independently or Mentors can show the training in a group setting. Every team member who completes a training module will earn an awesome virtual badge.

To register, go to the Safety Learning Portal. Once you are on the Safety Portal home page, locate the “Need to Register?” text. If you are mentor click the “Mentor Registration” and fill out the required information. If you are a student and/or safety captain click the “Student Registration” and fill out the required information. Once you submit your information, you will need to login to the Safety Portal. The UL Solutions & FIRST Robotics Competition Safety Learning Portal is owned and managed UL. In order to register for this platform, users must provide UL with their personal data and this data will be used in accordance with UL Solutions’s Privacy Policy. You should read this policy carefully before registering for this platform.

* Please note that the Safety Learning Portal functions best in Internet Explorer or Google Chrome. Using another web browser may cause issues with the functionality.

Safety Animation Award sponsored by UL Solutions

We are excited to announce the theme for the 2025 Safety Animation Award sponsored by UL Solutions: Dive into Safety!

Safety and sustainability go hand in hand. Sustainable practices help assure we’ll have the resources we need to problem-solve, innovate, and be productive year after year. Safety is key to sustainability, helping us avoid waste, conserve energy, and protect our most valuable human resources from accidents and injury.

For the 2025 Safety Animation, teams are challenged to take a deep dive, exploring the vast partnership between safety and sustainability. Teach us your best practices. Inspire us to act in safe and sustainable ways. Use your talents to influence others through effective and memorable messaging. Let creativity be your guide!

UL Solutions will provide restricted grants to the Winner and Finalists. The Winner will receive $500 and each of the two Finalists will receive $250 towards registration for the 2026 season.

Animations must:

Be no more than 40 seconds long, including opening and credits
Be submitted electronically as .AVI, .MPEG, .MP4, or .WMV file
Be animated. Any kind of animation, including stop-motion, is allowed. Live video is allowed provided it is accompanied by virtual/augmented animated elements. Live video of people is not allowed.
If using copyrighted music, you must have written permission. If using Creative Commons Music (CCM) online, the music must be used in accordance with the appropriate license and properly attributed.
Lyrics in music may not contain explicit or suggestive language.
Any animation that does not meet these criteria will not be considered for the award.

We ask that students please include their first name and last initial only in the video. Please do not include the full first and last name.

Please note that the team with the winning submission may be asked to reformat their video into a higher quality format in order to be shown at FIRST Robotics Competition Events.

Submission:

Students, the lead mentor 1, or the lead mentor 2 must submit their team’s Safety Animation video through the FIRST Youth Team Member Registration System. The student submitting must have a signed FIRST Consent and Release form and be marked as an award submitter. Animations must be submitted between Thursday, October 17, 2024 at 12:00 PM, Noon (ET) and Thursday, November 21, 2024 at 3:00 PM (ET).

By making a submission the Submitter irrevocably grants to FIRST and designees of FIRST the right to use any or all of the submission in any and all media for the purpose of describing the submission, describing the Award, and/or otherwise promoting FIRST and the programs of FIRST.

Congratulations to the 2024 Safety Animation Award Winner, Team 8!

The theme for the 2024 Safety Animation Award sponsored by UL Solutions was Safety – Full STEAM Ahead!

Engineering is synonymous with creativity. When communicating the need for safe behavior and practices, the most effective messaging is often the most creative. If we truly want to encourage safe behaviors, making messages creative and connecting them to our emotions makes the messages more memorable. Creativity and inspiration can come from anywhere.

For the 2024 Safety Animation, we challenge teams to encourage safe practices by tapping into their creativity and influencing emotions and actions. The winning animations will allow the most creative members of your teams to share their talents. Stun us with your stimulating visuals, build a crescendo with your original soundtracks, and influence us to be safe with your poetic words. Engage the senses and make safety memorable!

Please Note: If you are looking for the Digital Animation Award, please visit this page for submission information.

Past Winners of the Safety Animation

Year/Theme	Team	Video	Placement
2024-Safety – Full STEAM Ahead!	Team 8, Paly Robotics from California, USA	8	Winner
2024-Safety – Full STEAM Ahead!	Team 1086, Blue Cheese from Virginia, USA	1086	Finalist
2024-Safety – Full STEAM Ahead!	Team 1986, Team Titanium from Missouri, USA	1986	Finalist
2023-Energy Challenges	Team 836, The RoboBees from Maryland, USA	836	Winner
2023-Energy Challenges	Team 4048, Redshift from Massachusetts, USA	4048	Finalist
2023-Energy Challenges	Team 7272, Envirobots from New York, USA	7272	Finalist
2022-Faster, Farther, SAFER!	Team 1939, The Kugnigits, from Kansas City, Missouri, USA	1939	Winner
2022-Faster, Farther, SAFER!	Team 836, The RoboBees, from Hollywood, Maryland, USA	836	Finalist
2022-Faster, Farther, SAFER!	Team 1138, Eagle Eingineering, from West Hills, California, USA	1138	Finalist
2021-Safety is Caring	Team 6348, PrepaTec - HORUS, from Colima, Colima, Mexico	6348	Winner
2021-Safety is Caring	Team 1711, RAPTORS, from Traverse City, Michigan, USA	1711	Runner-Up
2021-Safety is Caring	Team 4909, Bionics, from Billerica, Massachusetts, USA	4909	Runner-Up
2020-Sustainability on the RISE	Team 3100, Lightning Turtles, from Mendota Heights, Minnesota, USA	3100	Winner
2020-Sustainability on the RISE	Team 2228, CougarTech, from Honeoye Falls, New York, USA	2228	Runner-Up
2020-Sustainability on the RISE	Team 4048, Redshift, from Westborough, Massachusetts, USA	4048	Runner-Up
2019-Destination . . . Safety!	Team 5348, Charger Robotics, from Cokato, Minnesota, USA	5348	Winner
2019-Destination . . . Safety!	Team 846, The Funky Monkeys, from San Jose, California, USA	846	Runner-Up
2019-Destination . . . Safety!	Team 3100, Lightning Turtles, from Mendota Heights, Minnesota, USA	3100	Runner-Up
2019-Destination . . . Safety!	Team 3941, Absolute Zero Electricity, from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, USA	3941	Runner-Up
2019-Destination . . . Safety!	Team 4083, The Iron Wolverines, from Dorchester, South Carolina, USA	4083	Runner-Up
2018-Simulating the Next Level	Team 2877, The LigerBots, from Newton, Massachusetts, USA	2877	Winner
2018-Simulating the Next Level	Team 8, Paly Robotics, from Palo Alto, California, USA	8	Runner-Up
2018-Simulating the Next Level	Team 1153, Walpole Robotics, from Walpole, Massachusetts, USA	1153	Runner-Up
2018-Simulating the Next Level	Team 3181, Pittsford Panthers, from Pittsford, New York, USA	3181	Runner-Up
2018-Simulating the Next Level	Team 6024, Team R Factor, from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India	6024	Runner-Up
2017-Quest for a Safer World	Team 3691, The RoboRaiders, from Northfield, Minnesota, USA	3691	Winner
2017-Quest for a Safer World	Team 810, The Mechanical Bulls, from Smithtown, New York, USA	810	Runner-Up
2017-Quest for a Safer World	Team 2129, Ultraviolet, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA	2129	Runner-Up
2017-Quest for a Safer World	Team 1502, Technical Difficulties, Chelsea, Michigan, USA	1502	Runner-Up
2017-Quest for a Safer World	Team 3637, The Daleks, Flemington, New Jersey, USA	3637	Runner-Up
2017-Quest for a Safer World	Team 3654, TechTigers, Middletown, Connecticut, USA	3654	Runner-Up
2016-Working Safely with your Robot	Team 846, The Funky Monkeys, San Jose, CA, USA	846	Winner
2016-Working Safely with your Robot	Team 1124, UberBots, Avon, CT, USA	1124	Runner-Up
2016-Working Safely with your Robot	Team 2473, Goldstrikers, Cupertino, CA, USA	2473	Runner-Up
2016-Working Safely with your Robot	Team 4048, Redshift, Westborough, MA, USA	4048	Runner-Up
2015-Safety Superheroes	Team 133, BERT, Standish, ME, USA	133	Winner
2015-Safety Superheroes	Team 2473, Goldstrikers, Cupertino, CA, USA	2473	Runner-Up
2015-Safety Superheroes	Team 2574, RoboHuskie, St. Anthony, MN, USA	2574	Runner-Up
2014-Safe Driving	Team 3324, The Metrobots, Columbus, OH, USA	3324	Winner
2014-Safe Driving	Team 624, CRyptonite, Katy, TX, USA	624	Runner-Up
2014-Safe Driving	Team 3966, L&N STEMpunks, Knoxville, TN, USA	3966	Runner-Up
2013-Making Event Safety a Top Priority	Team 245, AdamBots, Rochester Hills, MI, USA	245	Winner
2013-Making Event Safety a Top Priority	Team 2607, Robovikings, Warminster, PA, USA	2607	Runner-Up
2012-Sharing Safety is Caring	Team 3705, Arrowbots, Brampton, ON, CA	3705	Winner
2012-Sharing Safety is Caring	Team 3132, Thunder Down Under, Sydney, NSW, AUS	3132	Runner-Up
2012-Sharing Safety is Caring	Team 2438, Lobotics, Honolulu, HI, USA	2438	Runner-Up
2012-Sharing Safety is Caring	Team 1714, MORE Robotics, Milwaikee, WI, USA	1714	Runner-Up
2012-Sharing Safety is Caring	Team 1094, Channel Cats, O Fallon, MO, USA	1094	Runner-Up
2012-Sharing Safety is Caring	Team 114, Eagle Strike, Los Altos, CA, USA	114	Runner-Up
2011-A Lifetime of Safety	Team 846, The Funky Monkeys, San Jose, CA, USA	846	Winner
2011-A Lifetime of Safety	Team 226, Hammerheads, Troy, MI, USA		Runner-Up
2011-A Lifetime of Safety	Team 342, Burning Magnetos, North Charleston, SC, USA		Runner-Up
2011-A Lifetime of Safety	Team 359, Hawaiian Kids, Waialua, HI, USA		Runner-Up
2011-A Lifetime of Safety	Team 562, SPARK-Students Pursuing Applied Robotics Knowledge, Fitchburg, MA, USA		Runner-Up
2011-A Lifetime of Safety	Team 1899, Saints Robotics, Bellevue, WA, USA		Runner-Up
2010-Safety Rules	Team 342, Burning Magnetos, North Charleston, SC, USA	342	Winner
2009-Safety....Share It	Team 342, Burning Magnetos, North Charleston, SC, USA	342	Winner
2009-Safety....Share It	Team 303, The T.E.S.T. Team, Bridgewater, NJ, USA		Runner-Up
2009-Safety....Share It	Team 1280, Ragin' C-Biscuits, Danville, CA, USA		Runner-Up
2009-Safety....Share It	Team 1716, Redbird Robotics, De Pere, WI, USA		Runner-Up
2009-Safety....Share It	Team 1746, OTTO, Cumming, GA, USA		Runner-Up
2009-Safety....Share It	Team 2783, Engineers of Tomorrow, La Grange, KY, USA		Runner-Up