At approximately 9:45 a.m. on October 31, 1994, Employee #1, of R. Howard Strasbaugh, Inc. in San Luis Obispo, CA, was alone, testing a circular robot machine. He had done this many times before; however, this time he forgot to de-energize the machine. When he put his left hand on a wheel to adjust the belt, the machine started and caught his thumb between the wheel spoke and the hard stop for the wheel. The thumb was not amputated, but tendons were cut. Employee #1 was taken to French Hospital, where he stayed for two days. Due to lack of employer knowledge, a general citation for failing to de-energize the machine was issued instead of a serious one.

Employee #1 was inside a chiron making adjustments to a wheel size changeover. A robot is used to move the wheel around the cell. Employee #1 was holding the robot controls in his hands, and apparently activated the robot while bending over the wheel to check the settings. The robot came into the chiron unit to remove the wheel, but instead pinned Employee #1 against the wheel, crushing him to death.

Employee #1 was working as an electrician at an auto assembly plant. He noticed that a part that had been spot welded by robots at a previous station was out of position. Employee #1 broke a light curtain, disabling another robot, and climbed up on an auto/cab shuttle transfer to hit the part into place. As the shuttle transfer device completed a cycle it caught Employee #1's right leg between the top and bottom rail. In order to extricate Employee #1, the leg had to be amputated by rescue personnel. No lockout procedures were used by Employee #1, although he had received training and was an authorized employee.

Employee #1 was operating a die casting machine that had an electrical interlock safety gate which would disengage all operations when opened. Employee #1, who is very small, was able to slide past it without disengaging the machine. She did this while cleaning the mouth of the die and was hit in the back with the robot ladle, which spilled approximately two pounds of 1,200 degree F molten aluminum on her back. Employee #1 was hospitalized with burns.

Employee #1, the operator of a robot, went to investigate and/or fix a malfunction in the robot without locking it out. When Employee #1 tried to fix the system, he activated the robot and the robot's arm crushed him against a part being transported on a conveyor. Employee #1 was killed.

Employee #1, who had been employed by Bay Mirror, Inc. for 1 1/2 years, leaned over the end of the mirror production roll line to brush off a piece of broken glass. This was not part of his or anyone's duties. This action placed him in the return path of a twin-armed robot mirror unloader conveyor. The arms follow a 90 degree arc of descent, then travel into 9 1/2 inch wide spaces in the end of the roll line, ending in a horizontal position, parallel to the roll line and floor. Employee #1 was struck in the back of the head and back, and pushed into the 9 1/2 inch space with the robot arm on top of him. He was pronounced dead of internal injuries at the hospital, although no pulse was achieved by emergency response personnel at the site. Employee #1 was actually inside the travel rails of the robot, according to management, when he leaned over. An emergency stop was pushed within 10 seconds. The employee's presence in the hazard area was not necessary to his assigned job, although the area was not guarded and there were no warning signs. A serious accident related violation of 4002(a) was cited.

Employee #1 was working with an industrial robot that takes parts from a conveyor, feeds them into a machining operation; takes the parts and inserts them into a multi-spindle drill press; and then puts them on a spray painting turntable for rust-proofing. Employee #1 had apparently replaced a drill bit and returned to production but, because the parts didn't properly contact locator switches on the drill, the robot stopped. (This was a common problem.) Employee #1 apparently then reentered the robot area without locking out or hitting the "system stop" button or pushing the "hold" button. The "system stop" button can be hit earlier in the cycle before hitting "hold," and was found to override the "hold." Apparently Employee #1 pushed the parts against the locator switches that automatically activated the robot and the robot inadvertently crushed Employee #1 against the drill press. Employee #1 died. The original interlocked gate guards had been damaged over time, removed, and not replaced.

EMPLOYEE #1 CLIMBED ONTO THE CHIP JAW OF AN AUTOMATIC LATHE. WHILE HE WAS CHANGING THE CUTTING TOOL TIPS THE PRODUCT HANDLING ROBOT MOVED. HE WAS CRUSHED AGAINST THE HEAD STOCK OF THE LATHE.

Employee #1 was manually removing plastic waste baskets from a mold. The machine normally had a robot that removes parts, but it was not functioning. The plate that forms the bottom of the wastebasket pneumatically ejects the parts from the mold, then retracts into position. Employee #1 caught her finger in the pinch point while removing the part.

Employee #1 was standing in front of the hopper leading to a body maker. When a robot arm tried to put some metal plates into the hopper, Employee #1 was crushed between the hopper and the metal plates. He was killed.