worker suffers heart attack and 4th degree burns....

With the ever increasing use of robots in our plants the hazard  worker interaction is a growing concern. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incidents in the past where workers entered in an area where a robot was working resulting in an incident. Here is a recent story emphasizing this growing hazard:

An aluminium diecasting company in the United Kingdom has been fined over £135,000 after a worker suffered life threatening injuries when he became trapped in a machine.

The local court heard that on in the summer of 2015 the worker had entered the middle of the aluminium diecasting machine between the furnace pot and the front bar to clear a buildup of metal. Whilst carrying out this routine procedure the robot arm started to move, the worker tried to move out of the way but was trapped by the ladle containing 400 degrees centigrade molten metal attached to the robot arm. He suffered a cardiac arrest and fourth degree burns.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the machine had only been partially guarded making access to the ladle possible. This was despite there being a risk assessment in place at the time of the incident identifying the hazard of contact or entrapment with the ladle.

The aluminum company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined over £1350,000.

Speaking after the hearing HSE Principal Inspector said: “A man suffered life changing injuries which could have been prevented if the machine had been properly guarded. Employers should ensure that they regularly check, assess and review the guarding on their machinery to ensure that all access to dangerous parts in prevented.”

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog prays that the injured worker recovers fully from his injuries. We hope that the company will offer physical and mental health counseling.

In our experience we have seen robots who have been operating for a long time not have the proper fencing or engineering controls to prevent workers from entering their work space. All too often we observe that if there is a fence around a robot, the gates are un-secured. The APSB recommends that any gate be secured and fitted with an electronic lock that if accessed the robot shuts off immediately. 

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