Policy & Ethicsindustrial robotsworkplace safetyfordliability
Factory Robot Causes First Human Death
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On this day in 1979 Ford worker Robert Williams was crushed and killed by a robotic arm at the Flat Rock casting plant, marking the first recorded human death caused by an industrial robot. After a three-and-a-half-year lawsuit his family won a $10 million wrongful-death verdict—the largest Michigan payout at the time—highlighting long-term concerns about robot safety and legal accountability.
