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Incident · Injury

Pick-and-place robot crushed a worker at a South Korean vegetable-packing plant (2023)

On Nov 8 2023 a pick-and-place robot at a vegetable-packing plant in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea grabbed a robotics-company worker, who had been sent to inspect it, and pressed him against a conveyor belt; he died of head and chest injuries. The robot reportedly failed to distinguish the man from the boxes of produce it was handling.

Occurred 2023-11-08

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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 Pick-and-place robot crushed a worker at a South Korean vegetable-packing plant (2023)

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Sources (1)

  1. CBS News · https://www.cbsnews.com/news/industrial-robot-crushes-worker-dead-south-korea/

Common questions

What happened in Pick-and-place robot crushed a worker at a South Korean vegetable-packing plant (2023)?
On Nov 8 2023 a pick-and-place robot at a vegetable-packing plant in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea grabbed a robotics-company worker, who had been sent to inspect it, and pressed him against a conveyor belt; he died of head and chest injuries. The robot reportedly failed to distinguish the man from the boxes of produce it was handling.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on November 8, 2023 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
Has anyone responded to Pick-and-place robot crushed a worker at a South Korean vegetable-packing plant (2023)?
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 Pick-and-place robot crushed a worker at a South Korean vegetable-packing plant (2023)?
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 2026-07-14

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-14

Sources by quality tier

1
unclassified
Unclassified source

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

Methodology surface for Pick-and-place robot crushed a worker at a South Korean vegetable-packing plant (2023).

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Canonical ID 128bdc76-61e7-489c-b054-10c7c0ed6259