New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: Have you ever intervened over safety when you weren't in charge?
Ask HN: Have you ever intervened over safety when you weren't in charge?
4 by Waterluvian | 2 comments on Hacker News.
Years ago I was visiting a local robotics team for a meet and greet. There was an adult there acting as the supervision, and the kids were working on getting their robot up and running for a demo. One group was busy on the laptop/joysticks. Another hand their hands on the robot, adjusting pieces of plexiglass that guided balls. From a small demo moments earlier, I learned that the joysticks were VERY sensitive and drove multiple 300 watt motors that drove a chain drive for the wheels. The chain was exposed and there were fingers everywhere. I had a moment of pause and then I just yelled "STOP", startling everyone including the supervisor who was mid-sentence in conversation with me. I slowly unwound the whole situation, turning it into a chat about "culture of safety." I think about this a lot, specifically because there was about 2 seconds where my brain thought, "I'm not in charge here. I just met everyone. Do I really speak up? Maybe I'm missing something about all of this." After many replays of this scenario over the years, I decided that I would rather embarrass myself horribly than hesitate next time. Has anything like this happened to you? How did you feel? What did you learn?
4 by Waterluvian | 2 comments on Hacker News.
Years ago I was visiting a local robotics team for a meet and greet. There was an adult there acting as the supervision, and the kids were working on getting their robot up and running for a demo. One group was busy on the laptop/joysticks. Another hand their hands on the robot, adjusting pieces of plexiglass that guided balls. From a small demo moments earlier, I learned that the joysticks were VERY sensitive and drove multiple 300 watt motors that drove a chain drive for the wheels. The chain was exposed and there were fingers everywhere. I had a moment of pause and then I just yelled "STOP", startling everyone including the supervisor who was mid-sentence in conversation with me. I slowly unwound the whole situation, turning it into a chat about "culture of safety." I think about this a lot, specifically because there was about 2 seconds where my brain thought, "I'm not in charge here. I just met everyone. Do I really speak up? Maybe I'm missing something about all of this." After many replays of this scenario over the years, I decided that I would rather embarrass myself horribly than hesitate next time. Has anything like this happened to you? How did you feel? What did you learn?
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