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 2025 Safety Animation Award Winner, Team 1986! 

 

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
2025-Safety – Dive into Safety! Team 1986, Team Titanium from Missouri, USA 1986 Winner
2025-Safety – Dive into Safety! Team 4048, Redshift from Massachusetts, USA 4048 Finalist
2025-Safety – Dive into Safety! Team 5667, The Digital Eagles from Ohio, USA 5667 Finalist
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