Robot Safety Question

    Hello everyone,,

    I have a robot using a vacuum tool that will be carrying boxes(5lbs) and placing the box on a pallet. The robot cell is protected by a fence and air can only be shut of at the base of the robot or if power is shut off at the pannel. So lets say I have an operator that needs to enter the cell to fix a box at the infeed and they enter the cell while the robot is holding product in the air. here are my questions:


    1. Do I need to eliminate this hazard of falling product? The exposure is low and frequency is low, injury could be serious being struck in the head. The likely of this is really low but still possible.

    2. Where can I reference a code that covers this issue.

    Edited once, last by Baxster ().

    Let the robot finish the cycle .(place box in pallet)

    The procedure is the following

    1) Press a button to request entrance to cell

    2) Wait for pneumatic lock to release the lock OR train the operator not to enter the cell until the "beacon light is green"

    3) fix box

    4) get out, reset door

    Retired but still helping

    Like 2

    That by itself will not be enough to satisfy most jurisdictions' safety regulations (though it is a good start). Given enough time, air will leak into the tool and it will eventually lose its grip.


    The key term is "stored energy", which includes "gravity" -- OSHA has entire checklists for evaluating risk in these situations.

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