Manesar: Factory worker crushed to death by industrial robot - Hindustan Times
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Manesar: Factory worker crushed to death by industrial robot

Hindustan Times | ByIsha Sahni and Dhananjay Jha, Gurgaon
Aug 13, 2015 08:38 PM IST

The postmortem of 23-year-old factory worker, who died in an auto component manufacturing factory in Manesar on Wednesday, revealed that he died after massive internal bleeding due to the tight grip of robot.

The postmortem of a 23-year-old factory worker, who died in an auto component manufacturing factory in Manesar on Wednesday, revealed that he died after massive internal bleeding due to the tight grip of robot. The autopsy clearly concluded that 23-year-old Ramji Lal had died after his ribs and abdominal region were completely crushed by the arm of an industrial robot installed in SKH metals. He died within around 20-30 minutes of the incident. The company manufactures products like fuel tanks, axle housings, sheet metal welded assemblies, suspension frames and control arms for automobile suppliers.

However, police officials still claim he died due to an electric shock received after he accidently touched the robot.

The forensic expert Dr Deepak Mathur, who conducted postmortem, said, “There were no marks inflicted due to electrocution on the body of the deceased. Instead, we found huge injury marks on his body by robot and he died after his internal organs were crushed by the force of robot arm.”

The deceased was married early last year and his wife is pregnant. Hailing from farmer’s family in Unno in Uttar Pardesh, deceased was the only brother of his five sisters two of which are unmarried, said deceased brother-in-law Manoj Kumar who preferred to remain tight lipped on the issue of accident. He said that the company was cooperating in the matter.

The Labour Department of Haryana has formed a 3-member committee to further probe in the case. They have also asked officials of SKH metals to submit a full report of the entire incident within next seven days. RC Vidhan, the additional Labour Commissioner said that the decision on the action against the company would be decided only after enquiry was completed.

When asked as to how did the workers trespassed into the radius of the robot’s arm, and why did not the sensors of the robot did not activate and stopped the machine when the deceased came under its assault, Vidhan said that these issues would be addressed in the enquiry conducted by the deputy director of the directorate of industrial safety and health department.

Ramji was employed as a contract worker in the manufacturing department of factory for the past nearly two years. At around 11 am, he came close to robotic arm while adjusting a metal sheet, crossing the sensor area of robot. Suddenly, he was picked up and crushed by the robotic arm.

Though he was immediately rescued and rushed to hospital, he died due to severe injuries in hospital.

Repesentative photo showing industrial robots at work. (Shutterstock Photo)
Repesentative photo showing industrial robots at work. (Shutterstock Photo)

“It is a case of negligence by the company. In a situation where robots and heavy machinery is installed, there should be proper sensors so that the robot stops when a person comes too close to it. The company has never in the past taken any steps to avoid any accidents,” said Kuldeep Janghu, general secretary of Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union.

Head of Strategic Business Unit of SKH Metals, Vikas Chaudhary, says, “It is a very tragic and sad moment for the entire factory. We never expected such an incident to take place here. The company has always provided proper training to its employees.”

“The management will be preparing a report on incident and several measures will be taken to ensure full security of all the company employees,” he further added.

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