Testing Procedures / Safety for FSAE Cars

[Alastair Clarke]

Hi,

Our uni has instigated a review of our safety procedures for testing, and so I'm trying to canvass a few teams on what they currently do, so if any of you could answer the following:

1) What risk assessments / safety procedures do you have in place for testing of your car
2) Do you have trained first aiders with you when testing?
3) Do you have trained paramedics with you when testing?
4) Does your team undergo training for procedures in the event of a fire?

Any other comments about your safety procedures would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Alastair

[Alastair Clarke]

Hi,

Our uni has instigated a review of our safety procedures for testing, and so I'm trying to canvass a few teams on what they currently do, so if any of you could answer the following:

1) What risk assessments / safety procedures do you have in place for testing of your car
2) Do you have trained first aiders with you when testing?
3) Do you have trained paramedics with you when testing?
4) Does your team undergo training for procedures in the event of a fire?

Any other comments about your safety procedures would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Alastair

[ben]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Alastair Clarke:
1) What risk assessments / safety procedures do you have in place for testing of your car
2) Do you have trained first aiders with you when testing?
3) Do you have trained paramedics with you when testing?
4) Does your team undergo training for procedures in the event of a fire?
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

We had risk assessments, if you contact the curent team they should be able to give you more details on what they actually contained.

We always had a uni technician at tests and I would assume they were first aiders but I'm not sure if it was a requirement.

We never had paramedics or underwent any form of fire safety training.

Ben

[raska]

Nothing imposed by the university (90% of the time we have tested nobody but team members have known about it), but as our own form of self governing, we have a constantly improving criteria:

1) We have a checklist that if done properly covers any tech, and more (checking torques, etc) for the good of the car, and of course the good of all people. A blocked off area, as well as corner workers, everybody with flags and radios and a system of flag signals to communicate with the driver.

2) Yes we do because I have first aid training, but we have not enough emphasis has been put on this, since I could name other members who who have training. This training is useful and it's in everybodies best interest really to take it.

3) No. Practically, this would not be possible.

4) We talk about it and have plans in place, but have not actually gone through a 'drill'. We have multiple fire extinguishers as well as a 'fire vehicle' which is a spare car that is always ready to move with a fire extinguisher or two inside.


It's so easy to slack off with these procedures I know, but it's so important. For checklists, it's also an excellent way of inspecting the car for anything that might be seen as problematic. We've all been young and stupid, but this really isn't the place. Part of organization is preparing for the unexpected, and it shows a lot of professionalism as well. This isn't a backyard contraption project that we're starting up and puttering along with, it's a serious vehicle, and a lot can go wrong. I've come to realize that the most twisted combination of events going wrong that you can imagine, will eventually go wrong at some point, so those ones that seem more likely than others really should be dealt with. I know it happens, we're probably all guilty of it to some degree often in the heat of competition, but some comprimises, especially to do with lazyness and frustration just simply aren't worth it, and it's best to take a step back for a second and really think about things. You don't want to be saying "I saw that coming" when something happens.