In a heart-wrenching incident at the Vandapac factory in Chon Buri province on Wednesday, a routine day turned fatal when a robotic arm struck a worker, crushing him to death.
The unsuspecting worker was going about his duties, laying out sheets of material, when tragedy struck most unexpectedly.
Unsettling CCTV footage reveals the horrifying sequence of events, as the massive metal arm swung down, pinning the worker against a bench, while his colleague continued working, oblivious to the unfolding disaster behind him.
Emergency responders raced against time, but their efforts were in vain as the victim succumbed to major trauma upon arrival at Chon Buri Hospital.
Factory authorities shifted blame, citing the worker’s misjudgement, but questions loom over the safety protocols and accountability in such operations. They suggested he was aware of the robot arm’s capabilities and mistakenly manoeuvered beneath it, refusing to take responsibility for the incident.
Revealing minimal details, a manager stated to local media:
“We are not providing any more information. The employees accept responsibility for any accidents that happen while they are working.”
Vandapac, a longstanding manufacturer specialising in plastic products for various industries, has operations spanning decades and employs over 1,800 individuals across its facilities in Samut Prakan province and the Amata City Chon Buri Industrial Estate.
The shocking incident comes just months after another robot killed a worker in South Korea because it failed to differentiate him from a box of vegetables.
That victim, a robotics company worker in his forties, was checking the machine’s sensor at a distribution centre for agricultural produce in South Gyeongsang during a routine inspection in November.
But the machine, which was lifting boxes of peppers onto a pallet, grabbed the man with its arm and pushed him against the conveyor belt, crushing his face and chest.
The robot malfunctioned and identified the man as a box, police sources said, reported UK Daily Mail.
The victim was transferred to the hospital but died later, according to the South Korean Yonhap news agency.
Police subsequently launched an investigation into the site’s safety managers for possible negligence in duties. An official from the Donggoseong Export Agricultural Complex, which owns the plant, called for a precise and safe system to be established in a statement after the incident.
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