:: rawblogXport ::

:: Tuesday, July 13, 2004 ::

Industrial robotics provide unforeseen risks to humans Canadian Occupational Safety magazine
At a recent conference on robot safety in Toronto, co-sponsored by the Canadian Standards Association and the U.S. Robotic Industries Association, Cathy Walker, health and safety director of the Canadian Auto Workers, reviewed actual case incidents involving industrial robots. 'Fortunately,' Walker notes, 'few incidents have been reported in Canada to date.' Whether that's because robotics are newer to the Canadian workplace than in the U.S., or whether such incidents are reported under other headings is not known, she says.

What is clear from incidents compiled by the UAW in American workplaces is that robotic systems can present real dangers to workers. While differing in detail, there was enough similarity to point to a number of helpful conclusions.

In many of the reported cases, the injured workers were frequently found to have been inside the robot's safeguarded or restricted space during its automatic operation. In all cases the robot was following its programmed path; it was not behaving in an erratic or unexpected fashion. Finally, the injured workers were performing foreseeable tasks, such as repair or maintenance work, or were attempting to free up some kind of jam or problem.

posted 6:37 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

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