Robot incidents in 2017
The Machine Record holds 3 incidents involving commercial robots in 2017: 3 where a person was hurt, 1 of them fatal, and 0 that reached a regulator, a recall or a court.
Counts measure what was reported in the press the register reads and cleared verification, not how many events took place. Fleet sizes are not public, so none of this is a rate. The rules are on the methodology page.
Reading the numbers
The 3 cases dated 2017 are spread over 3 months, with January 2017 the busiest at 1 and 9 months without a case. The newest case is dated 2017-12-12: Worker Sustains Fractured Hip When Struck By Robot.
By kind of machine, industrial robots make up 67% of the set, ahead of robot arms (1). Most cases are placed in United Kingdom (1).
In 67% of the cases someone was seriously hurt. Every case records a person hurt, 1 of them fatal. The most common type of event is investigation (2). 2 cases (67%) went beyond the first report to an investigation, a regulator, a recall, a fine or a court.
Every case dated 2017
Newest first. Each one links to its timeline and to the sources it rests on.
- 2017-12-12Worker Sustains Fractured Hip When Struck By RobotInvestigation
- 2017-04-14A 48-year-old engineer at Deco-Pak in Hipperholme was fatally crushed by a robotic arm while cleaning a sensor inside the machine's cell, dying from crush injuries to his chest.Report
- 2017-01-17Employee Is Struck By Robot Arm And Sustains Fractured SternInvestigation
New cases, once a week, by email
Every case added to the register in the last seven days, with its sources. Free, no account, and the register is the only sender.