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Incident · workplace_injury

OSHA: Worker struck by Fuji-Ace robot arm, suffers fractured sternum at Plastic Express (2017)

On January 17, 2017, a 37-year-old employee at Plastic Express climbed onto a stopped conveyor and walked into the caged area of a Fuji-Ace mechanical robot to reconnect a loose hose on the robot's hand. As he approached, the robot arm engaged and struck him in the chest, causing a broken sternum and two broken ribs; he was hospitalized.

The robot reactivated during maintenance performed without adequate lockout. OSHA accident investigation, inspection 1207700.015.

Occurred 2017-01-17 · Investigated by OSHA

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Track OSHA: Worker struck by Fuji-Ace robot arm, suffers fractured sternum at Plastic Express (2017)

Machine-readable surfaces

Sources (1)

  1. primary · https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=96664.015

Common questions

What happened in OSHA: Worker struck by Fuji-Ace robot arm, suffers fractured sternum at Plastic Express (2017)?
On January 17, 2017, a 37-year-old employee at Plastic Express climbed onto a stopped conveyor and walked into the caged area of a Fuji-Ace mechanical robot to reconnect a loose hose on the robot's hand. As he approached, the robot arm engaged and struck him in the chest, causing a broken sternum and two broken ribs; he was hospitalized. The robot reactivated during maintenance performed without adequate lockout. OSHA accident investigation, inspection 1207700.015.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on January 17, 2017 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 struck by Fuji-Ace robot arm, suffers fractured sternum at Plastic Express (2017)?
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 struck by Fuji-Ace robot arm, suffers fractured sternum at Plastic Express (2017)?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-06-25

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-06-25

Sources by quality tier

1
unclassified
Unclassified source

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

Methodology surface for OSHA: Worker struck by Fuji-Ace robot arm, suffers fractured sternum at Plastic Express (2017).

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Canonical ID f7b3ddca-2a80-42e7-baef-245c8070c6c2