Industrial Robot Use: Survey Results and Hazard Analysis

Abstract

Robotic workcells have proliferated in recent years but safety guidance in the area of safety sensing devices has not kept pace. Research investigating current robot use was conducted through safety survey questionnaires returned from 29 robot using corporations across the nation. The research goal was to identify the hazards which workers are exposed to while working near robots. Only 5% of robots were found to have redundant sensing and 40% could not be physically enclosed in barrier perimeters. In addition, personnel were found to enter a robot's work area for 38% of an 8 hour day. Based upon the survey results, a hazard analysis was created to assist in the evaluation of robot workstation safety. The hazard analysis recommends that safety sensors should be integrated in a layered protection system with an external perimeter, an internal workzone area, and a software path monitoring system.