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Incident · Injury

Kenji Urada killed by a Kawasaki robot arm after entering the work envelope, Akashi, Japan (1981)

In 1981 maintenance worker Kenji Urada was killed at a Kawasaki Heavy Industries plant in Akashi, Japan when he climbed over a safety fence to service a malfunctioning robot without fully powering it down; the hydraulic arm pushed him into an adjacent machine. One of the earliest documented industrial-robot fatalities (exact date variously reported; year firmly established).

Occurred 1981-01-01 · RHP Kaleido · Kawasaki Heavy Industries · Humanoids

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Track Kenji Urada killed by a Kawasaki robot arm after entering the work envelope, Akashi, Japan (1981)

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Sources (2)

  1. Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_Urada
  2. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2014/dec/09/robot-kills-factory-worker

Common questions

What happened in Kenji Urada killed by a Kawasaki robot arm after entering the work envelope, Akashi, Japan (1981)?
In 1981 maintenance worker Kenji Urada was killed at a Kawasaki Heavy Industries plant in Akashi, Japan when he climbed over a safety fence to service a malfunctioning robot without fully powering it down; the hydraulic arm pushed him into an adjacent machine. One of the earliest documented industrial-robot fatalities (exact date variously reported; year firmly established).
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on January 1, 1981 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
What robot was involved in Kenji Urada killed by a Kawasaki robot arm after entering the work envelope, Akashi, Japan (1981)?
RHP Kaleido by Kawasaki Heavy Industries is the recorded robot involved in this incident.
Has anyone responded to Kenji Urada killed by a Kawasaki robot arm after entering the work envelope, Akashi, Japan (1981)?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of Kenji Urada killed by a Kawasaki robot arm after entering the work envelope, Akashi, Japan (1981)?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-14

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-14

Sources by quality tier

1
knowledge-base
Knowledge base
1
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Kenji Urada killed by a Kawasaki robot arm after entering the work envelope, Akashi, Japan (1981).

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Canonical ID 8922d2c9-a1b7-4650-b857-7aab1ec7fc6b