A man was fatally crushed by a robotic arm in South Korea, as reported by Yonhap news agency. The victim, an employee in his 40s from the robotics company, was conducting an inspection of the robot at the time of the accident.
The incident occurred at a pepper sorting plant in South Gyeongsang province, where the robot was designated to lift boxes of peppers onto pallets. During a late-night check on the robot’s sensor operations, the machine malfunctioned, mistaking the man for a box of vegetables. As a result, it grabbed him and pressed him against the conveyor belt, leading to severe injuries to his face and chest. Despite being rushed to the hospital, the man succumbed to his injuries.
This tragedy unfolded ahead of a scheduled test run of the robot on November 8, which had already been delayed from November 6 due to issues with the robot’s sensors. The victim, a worker from the company that produced the robotic arm, was verifying the machine’s functionality when the accident occurred.
Following the incident, an official from the Donggoseong Export Agricultural Complex, which operates the plant, emphasized the need for a more “precise and safe” system. This accident echoes a similar event in March, where a man in his 50s sustained serious injuries after being trapped by a robot at an automobile parts manufacturing plant in South Korea.
