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Charlotte Stonestreet
Managing Editor |
Robot kills worker at VW plant
02 July 2015
A 22 year old external contractor has died from injuries sustained when he was trapped by a robotic arm and crushed against a metal plate at a Volkswagen car factory near Kassel in Germany.
A spokesman for VW, Heiko Hillwig, has said that initial conclusions indicate that human error was to blame, rather than a technical problem with the robot, which normally operates within a confined area, grabbing and manipulating parts.
It has been reported that the contractor was standing inside the safety cage when the accident occurred. It is believed that a second man outside the cage was unhurt.
The robot was not one of the new generation of lightweight collaborative robots that work side-by-side with workers on the production line without safety cages.
An investigation is underway.
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