Factory robot impales worker with 10 foot-long steel spikes after horror malfunction

The Sun UK ^

[csvset]

Paul Newan’s character was beaten to death by the robotic arms.

[norwaypinesavage]

I have worked as a consultant in several US factories where robots were used. I was required to install and record items mounted directly to the robot parts. All of these factories completely fenced in the areas where the robots were located, such that no possible motion of the robots could reach outside of the fences. The robots all had lockout stations where personal padlocks could be used to completely disable the robots. Each of us carried color coded padlocks, each with a single key that could not be duplicated. Guards were placed at each fence gate to assure that our padlocks were placed properly before we could enter the robot stations.

One time one of our people lost his key. It took two hours after closing time before a security supervisor was assured that no one was in danger and he could cut the lock out padlock off the switch. We then found the key on the floor, as we were walking away.

The type of incident described here would simply not happen in the US.

[BraveMan]

Kill one, the rest learn.

[csvset]

Numerous impalements = Holey Zhou !!!

[lowbridge]

"Ten, foot-long spikes. NOT, 10 foot long, spikes."

I thought you said 100 soldiers at 6 foot high.

[ameribbean expat]

Putting the “bone” in bone china.

[Buckeye McFrog]

A lot more horrible injuries occur by human driven cars everyday.

And 100 years ago before factory automation we were losing guys in the mills around here virtually every day.

Checkmate

[BwanaNdege]

I was testing a new fiber optic installation at a major manufacturer’s tire plant. The local, unionized workforce was ‘gunning’ for the outside, non-union installation crew and was able to get the crew supervisor kicked off the job site for a lock-out, tag-out violation.

When I asked the plant safety officer to show me the power panel which fed the machine in question, he could not find it either. I spent 30 minutes searching for the breaker panel for one of the 400 volt, 200-ton gantry hoists.

Old plant, lousy documentation!

[Tennessee Conservative]

Too late. Somebody posted one right above your warning.

[aces]

maybe we need this robot on the border

[null and void]

Thank God for morphine!

[null and void]

I see your point(s)...

[xrmusn]

Kind of an ‘Attack of the Killer Tomatoes’ moment...
(We have eaten them for all these years, now it is their turn)

maybe Hollywood/TV will quit recycling the ‘old stuff’ and come up with some new themes and titles.

“Robots Gone Wild”
“The Robot Mutiny”

Just when you think it is safe to go back into the plant again.

YES, originalbuckeye, Commas are your friend. and CAPS

Jim helped his Uncle Jack off the horse.
Jim helped his Uncle jack off the horse.

The Judge said the lawyer was nuts.
The Judge, said the lawyer, was nuts

Great for this subject
“Eats, Shoots & Leaves”
The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Lynne Truss, (2003).....thought older than that...

[freedomlover]

On second thought, I think my day is going to be just fine.

[GOYAKLA]

Seems, your brain is wired like mine! ;^}

[dfwgator]

[slumber1]

Apparently Skynet has reached self awareness much sooner than anyone anticipated

[Retvet]

Automation, the gift to the world. :-)

[Hot Tabasco]

I think you will find that the proper lock out procedures were not followed.

Since it was in China, I doubt they ever heard of "lock out procedures" or safety equipment in place to utilize them.

Worst accident my stamping plant had was when an electrician was crushed against the wall by an overhead crane. He was outside a caged ladder working on an electrical box mounted about 20 feet off the press shop floor. He failed to lock out the crane and the crane operator was focused on the pallet of steel he was moving and never saw the electrician......

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I started up new boiler installations for five years in the mid 70s. I worked in three different locations in China and was called to one site 2,000 miles away because the boiler kept tripping off line. Boiler safety systems had ten to fifteen interlocks of various types that had to be safe before the boiler could be ignited or stay online. When I arrived at the site, I was aghast to find the Chinese operators had installed a jumper wire that defeated every single safety interlock device! The entire boiler was a bomb just waiting to go off. I had never seen such a thing and it was rather scary to see that.

The power supply was reliable. After bringing the unit off line, all the safety switches tested perfectly, so the root cause of the failures was a real conundrum. On a whim, I started tugging individual wire terminations in the control panel and found they were all loose. All I could figure was that the vibration of shipment had loosened all the connections and the Chinese installers had simply failed to tighten the screw terminations during installation. After tightening all the screw terminals, the boiler started right up and operated reliably. The Chinese made me wait on site doing nothing for three days to make sure it wasn’t going to trip off again.

I learned a lot about Chinese plant engineering and operations in that week long trip.