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Incident · Fatality

OSHA: Worker asphyxiated after robot started up in un-locked-out cell at JR Wheel (2001)

On December 29, 2001, an employee at JR Wheel Inc. was cleaning up at the end of his shift and entered a robot cell that was not locked out. When the robot machinery started up, it grabbed his neck and pinned him under a wheel rim, asphyxiating him. OSHA accident investigation, inspection 304487655.

Occurred 2001-12-29 · Investigated by OSHA

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Incident records on DEPLOY are compiled from public sources (regulatory filings, news reports, and operator disclosures) and reflect what has been reported and tracked to date. They are not legal findings, determinations of fault, or safety ratings, and may be updated as new information is verified. See the sources below for the underlying references.
Track OSHA: Worker asphyxiated after robot started up in un-locked-out cell at JR Wheel (2001)

Machine-readable surfaces

Sources (2)

  1. https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=304487655
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20250115130216/https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=200101236

Common questions

What happened in OSHA: Worker asphyxiated after robot started up in un-locked-out cell at JR Wheel (2001)?
On December 29, 2001, an employee at JR Wheel Inc. was cleaning up at the end of his shift and entered a robot cell that was not locked out. When the robot machinery started up, it grabbed his neck and pinned him under a wheel rim, asphyxiating him. OSHA accident investigation, inspection 304487655.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on December 29, 2001 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
Has anyone responded to OSHA: Worker asphyxiated after robot started up in un-locked-out cell at JR Wheel (2001)?
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 OSHA: Worker asphyxiated after robot started up in un-locked-out cell at JR Wheel (2001)?
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 2026-07-22

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-22

Sources by quality tier

2
unclassified
Unclassified source

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

Methodology surface for OSHA: Worker asphyxiated after robot started up in un-locked-out cell at JR Wheel (2001).

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Canonical ID b645434d-f1d5-49b5-ba21-80c6c0c7b996