Worker Attacked by Robot in Sweden
I have been unable to find an image of the exact robot or enough info about the type of robot to find an image of it.
Industrial robots are typically installed with a safety zone marked by paint or barriers to keep workers from wandering into the danger zone. Source: OSHA
image from www.roboticstrends.com and I am unsure whether this illustration depicts the type of robot involved in the incident.
Swedish Factory Fined After Robot Grabs Worker’s Head
Repair tech injured approaching rock lifter, believing power was off.
www.roboticstrends.com | By Kevin Fogarty | May, 1, 2009
A Swedish company has been fined the equivalent of $3,000 for a June, 2007 incident in which an industrial robot grabbed a worker’s head and broke four ribs as he was attempting to repair it.
According to a local news site, a maintenance worker in the town of Balsta approached the robot to do some repairs, after believing he had cut off its power supply. As he approached, the robot arm, normally used to lift heavy rocks, reached out and grabbed the man’s head.
He succeeded in freeing himself, though not without injury.
After investigations by both the work-safety authority and the police, a local prosecuting attorney threatened to press charges against the company. The prosecutor eventually agreed to settle for a fine, acknowledging part of the blame should fall on the worker for inadequately securing the machine before approaching it.
Industrial robots are generally considered quite dangerous to approach during operation. They are usually designed for a specific set of functions and are not able to detect an obstacle such as a human standing within the swing radius of a manipulating arm, for example.
