Current:Home > FinanceIndustrial robot crushes worker to death as he checks whether it was working properly-InfoLens
Industrial robot crushes worker to death as he checks whether it was working properly
View Date:2024-12-23 16:39:44
Seoul, South Korea — An industrial robot crushed a worker to death at a vegetable packaging plant in South Korea, police said Thursday, as they investigate whether the machine was unsafe or had potential defects. According to police officials in the southern county of Goseong, the man died of head and chest injuries Tuesday after he was grabbed and pressed against a conveyor belt by the machine's robotic arms.
Police didn't release his name but said he was an employee of a company that installs industrial robots and was sent to the plant to examine whether the machine was working properly.
The machine was one of two pick-and-place robots used at the facility that packages bell peppers and other vegetables exported to other Asian countries, police said. Such machines are common in South Korea's agricultural communities.
"It wasn't an advanced, artificial intelligence-powered robot, but a machine that simply picks up boxes and puts them on pallets," said Kang Jin-gi, who heads the investigations department at Gosong Police Station. He said the police were working with related agencies to determine whether the machine had technical defects or safety issues.
Another police official, who didn't want to be named because he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters, said police were also looking into the possibility of human error. The robot's sensors are designed to identify boxes, and security camera footage indicated the man had moved near the robot with a box in his hands, which likely triggered the machine's reaction, the official said.
"It's clearly not a case where a robot confused a human with a box - this wasn't a very sophisticated machine," he said.
South Korea has had other safety accidents involving industrial robots in recent years. In March, a manufacturing robot crushed and seriously injured a worker who was examining the machine at an auto parts factory in Gunsan. Last year, a robot installed near a conveyor belt fatally crushed a worker at a milk factory in Pyeongtaek.
- In:
- Robot
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Todd Golden to continue as Florida basketball coach despite sexual harassment probe
- Ukraine’s Yastremska into fourth round at Australian Open
- '1980s middle school slow dance songs' was the playlist I didn't know I needed
- Ohio is poised to become the 2nd state to restrict gender-affirming care for adults
- When do new 'Yellowstone' episodes come out? Here's the Season 5, Part 2 episode schedule
- A probe into a Guyana dormitory fire that killed 20 children finds a series of failures
- At least 18 dead in a shelling of a market in Russian-occupied Ukraine, officials report
- Kanye West debuts metal teeth: 'Experimental dentistry' didn't involve removing his real teeth
- Drone footage captures scope of damage, destruction from deadly Louisville explosion
- Social media and a new age of cults: Has the internet brought more power to manipulators?
Ranking
- NFL MVP rankings: Does Steelers QB Russell Wilson deserve any consideration?
- Professor's deep dive into sobering planetary changes goes viral. Here's what he found.
- Prince Harry drops libel lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher
- The Challenge's Ashley Cain Welcomes Baby 2 Years After Daughter's Death
- John Krasinski Revealed as People's Sexiest Man Alive 2024
- 'Manic cleaning' videos are all over TikTok, but there's a big problem with the trend
- Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, created to combat winter, became a cultural phenomenon
- A Hindu temple built atop a razed mosque in India is helping Modi boost his political standing
Recommendation
-
Powerball winning numbers for Nov. 13 drawing: Jackpot rises to $113 million
-
2 artworks returned to heirs of Holocaust victim. Another is tied up in court
-
A century after Lenin’s death, the USSR’s founder seems to be an afterthought in modern Russia
-
Readers' wishes for 2024: TLC for Earth, an end to AIDS, more empathy, less light
-
Mike Tyson has lived a wild life. These 10 big moments have defined his career
-
Alec Baldwin indicted on involuntary manslaughter charge again in 'Rust' shooting
-
2 artworks returned to heirs of Holocaust victim. Another is tied up in court
-
JetBlue and Spirit Airlines say they will appeal a judge’s ruling that blocked their merger