Employee #1 was using a welding/drilling robot to assemble frames for basketball backboards. In this process, the material used to make the backboards is laid out on an A-frame turning table. One side drills the holes and the other side welds the material together; when the one side has been drilled, the table rotates 180 degrees for it to be welded. Employee #1 noticed that one of the holes had not been drilled completely and he reached between the A-frame to manually set that particular drill. When he pushed the MANUAL button, the robot thought that the cycle was complete and it began turning the table for the next sequence. The rotating table and A-frame pinned Employee #1 against the wall on the welding side. He suffered chest trauma, for which he was hospitalized.

Employee #1 and a coworker from AGA, a company that supplied gas to the Willard Foundry, were onsite to give an estimate on Willard's requested additions. They were being escorted by the head of maintenance. While the three of them were at the molten aliminum pouring area, the pouring operation, which was being executed by a robot, unexpectedly stopped. The escort left the two AGA employees to look for the problem. In about five minutes the escort found the problem in the shakeout area about 20 feet away. When he adjusted the switch, the pouring started again. Employee #1 and his coworker were on the pouring floor in the envelope of the robot ladle. Employee #1's chest was pinned against a mold by an approximately 150 lb ladle containing 1,400 degree Fahrenheit aluminum. He was killed.