Safety Managers, the Safety All Star, and the Safety Animation Award

Safety Managers (the volunteers in the pits)

At FRC events you will meet Safety Managers — volunteers, supported by UL Solutions, who work with teams to ensure they understand, comply with, and practice the fundamentals of safety. They observe teams' safety practices in the pit, practice field, queue line, and on the playing field, including how robots are transported between areas. They use a positive approach: coaching, positive reinforcement, and public recognition — positive verbal feedback for safe behavior, and identification of unsafe behavior with coaching to correct it. The manual's advice to teams is simple: don't hesitate to talk with the Safety Manager(s) and ask questions.

The Safety All Star

The Safety All Star is how FRC recognizes individuals who go above and beyond to build a culture of safety. Here is how it works:

• Throughout the competition, teams are encouraged to talk with other teams' Safety Captains to learn what they do to create a culture of safety.
• Each team is given Safety All Star Cards, which are used to vote for the safety captain they believe exemplifies leadership, possesses extensive safety knowledge, and demonstrates excellence.
• Cards are provided on non-playoff round days and must be completed and submitted to Pit Administration before the end of the day they are received.
• Safety Managers, with input from participants, select the Safety All Star on the primary competition day(s) at each event; the winner receives a small token of appreciation.

This is a fantastic way to network: visiting other pits to learn safety practices is both expected and rewarded.

The Safety Animation Award (sponsored by UL Solutions)

The Safety Animation Award, sponsored by UL Solutions, is a separate, season-long recognition that celebrates STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) by telling a safety story through animation. Key facts for the 2025–2026 season:

• The theme is "Unearth Safety" — teams dig deep to uncover impactful ways to implement safe and sustainable practices — and the award is open to both FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition teams.
• Submissions are animated videos no longer than 40 seconds, including opening and credits; stop-motion, animation, or live video with virtual/augmented animated elements are accepted (but not live video of people alone).
• For FRC, designated Award Submitters or Lead Coaches submit through the FIRST Dashboard during the announced fall submission window (for 2025-2026, submissions ran from September 9 to October 24, 2025).
• For FRC the winner receives $500 and each of two finalists receives $250 as restricted grants toward registration; winning and finalist videos are shown at events during the playoff tournament. (For FTC, the prize is fully paid registration for the next season.)

Why these programs matter

Together, these programs turn safety from a chore into something celebrated. The Safety All Star rewards day-to-day leadership in the pit; the Safety Animation Award rewards creative outreach. Both reinforce the same message the Safety Managers carry: Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Gracious.