Japan Workers Killed by Industrial Robots

Ten Japanese have been killed in the past nine years in accidents involving industrial robots that malfunctioned or were operated incorrectly, a Labor Ministry official said Friday.

The official said six people died when robots made unexpected movements--such as turning left instead of right--and crushed workers. In some cases, workers were trying to fix the machines when they were killed, he said. One worker, trying to repair a robot’s arm, was killed when the arm shot upward and struck him.