Certain things are only meant to be seen in the movies or to be read in the books. If those happen in real life, we would be shocked by its sheer intensity.One such thing happened recently in Germany, has caused shivers and tension among the people.
A robot that is used for assembling car parts killed a worker in world famous Volkswagen car plant in Germany recently. The man, a contract worker at this car plant, died when a robot grabbed him and crushed him against a metal plate, thereby crushing his chest. Inspite of many efforts to save him, he died in the hospital. This 22 year old worker belongs to a team which was setting up stationary robot. The factory has around 15,000 workers and produces gear boxes.
According to Volkswagen spokesperson Mr Heiko Hillwig, mishap took place at the plant in Baunatal, 100kms north of Frankfurt..Robot is a part of automated assembly line which can function without human operator and there were some doubts that it could have been under control of humans when mishap took place. There could have been human error involved rather than problem with the robot, as per the initial reports. But the confirmation regarding this issue is yet to be made as according to the state prosecutor office in Kassel.
Robots are programmed to do various activities in the assembly division like grabbing auto parts and operating them,apart from these tasks robots are used by the automakers at assembly plant in order to perform other tasks such as welding, painting etc.
Mr Hillwig also said that these robots functions within specific area at the car plant.Mr Hillwig also said that another worker was also present when the accident happened but he was safe.Mr Hillwig cited that an investigation is going on regarding this issue and refused to give more information. Prosecutors were considering to bring charges and this is being stated by dpa, a German based news agency.
Local newspaper HNA stated that, the man who died was standing along with the robot within the production area, whereas others were standing outside the area. After the accident, news was posted on twitter by Sarah O’ Connor, UK journalist, this incident grabbed lots of attention on the social media. According to the data got from the government,robots have been responsible for atleast 26 deaths in USA alone in past 30 years in the industrial sectors.
In the year 1979, 25 year old Robert Williams, was hit on his head by a robot on Ford car production unit in Michigan,USA. Simlarily in 1981,at Japan’s Kawasaki plant, 37 year old Kenji Urada got killed when robot pushed him into a grinder. The reason quoted was that the worker failed to turn off the robot completely.
