Accident: 14197602 - Right Leg Caught In Welding Line (Robot)

Apparatus
Accident: 14197602 -- Report ID: 0352420 -- Event Date: 11/12/1984
Inspection
Open Date
SIC
Establishment Name
14818256
11/15/1984
3429
Marada Industries Inc
A machine operator was working at an operating station for a Hitachi robotic
welding machine. She had been trained and had been working on the machine
for about 2 months. The machine welded 3.05-meter lengths of steel used to
construct the underbody frame of General Motors vans. The machine could be
run manually or in automatic, computer-run mode. The metal rails moved along
the machine until they reached a lifting arm, which was the full width of the line.
Two protruding rods, each approximately 13 centimeters long, fit into small
openings in each end of the lifting arm when it was at the home position. When
the rails to be welded were resting on the lifting arm, the pressure would be
transferred through the protruding rods, which would signal the computer to
begin the welding operation. At that point, the lifting arm would rise, and a
robotic arm would move out from the operator's side of the machine to weld the
frame pieces. After a few seconds' delay, the robotic arm would return to its
home position, and the lifting arm would lower to its home position, ready for
the next piece. During the course of this operation, the welding line would be
shut down intermittently so that employees could lubricate the welding tips on
the robot arms to prevent material build up. The operator, without telling anyone
else or shutting down the machine, tried to perform the lubrication with the
machine still in automatic mode. She thought she could finish lubricating the
welding tips during the small delay. The employee did not complete the task in
time, as she had anticipated. Her right leg was located between the protruding
rods on the lifting arm and the openings the rods rest in, and the rods trapped
her leg. When other employees were alerted, they had trouble trying to switch
the line to manual because the computer was trying to complete it's function and
because the lifting arm was trying to return to its home position. One employee

used a crowbar to help relieve pressure on the injured employee's leg, and
another operated the solenoid enabling the lifting arm to rise. The machine
operator received two puncture wounds in the thigh (requiring stitches) and
abrasions to the lower leg. She was hospitalized for her injuries.
Keywords:
robot, lockout, welding, machine--misc, leg, puncture, maintenance, nip point,
unguarded
Inspection
Age
Sex
Degree
Nature
Occupation
1
14818256
Hospitalized injury
Puncture
Sheet metal workers