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Kenji Urada killed by industrial robot at Kawasaki Heavy Industries Akashi plant — first robot fatality in Japan (1981)

On July 4, 1981, Kenji Urada, a 37-year-old maintenance worker at the Kawasaki Heavy Industries plant in Akashi, Hyōgo, Japan, was killed by an industrial robot. Urada jumped over a safety barrier designed to shut down power to the machine, and apparently started the robot inadvertently.

The robot, built by Kawasaki under license from Unimation, pinned him against an adjacent machine and crushed him. Other workers were unable to stop the machine as they were unfamiliar with its operation. The Hyōgo labor standards bureau investigation concluded workers were not sufficiently familiar with the machines and the machines were not sufficiently regulated.

Occurred 1981-07-04 · Kawasaki RS020N at Global · Kawasaki Robotics · Global · Industrial Robots

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Sources (4)

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_Urada
  2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36850052/
  3. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/12/08/Robot-kills-man/2127376635600/
  4. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/13/business/new-in-japan-the-manless-factory.html

Common questions

What happened in Kenji Urada killed by industrial robot at Kawasaki Heavy Industries Akashi plant — first robot fatality in Japan (1981)?
On July 4, 1981, Kenji Urada, a 37-year-old maintenance worker at the Kawasaki Heavy Industries plant in Akashi, Hyōgo, Japan, was killed by an industrial robot. Urada jumped over a safety barrier designed to shut down power to the machine, and apparently started the robot inadvertently. The robot, built by Kawasaki under license from Unimation, pinned him against an adjacent machine and crushed him. Other workers were unable to stop the machine as they were unfamiliar with its operation. The Hyōgo labor standards bureau investigation concluded workers were not sufficiently familiar with the machines and the machines were not sufficiently regulated.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on July 4, 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 industrial robot at Kawasaki Heavy Industries Akashi plant — first robot fatality in Japan (1981)?
Kawasaki RS020N by Kawasaki Robotics is the recorded robot involved in this incident at Global.
Has anyone responded to Kenji Urada killed by industrial robot at Kawasaki Heavy Industries Akashi plant — first robot fatality in 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 industrial robot at Kawasaki Heavy Industries Akashi plant — first robot fatality in Japan (1981)?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 4 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-09

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-09

Sources by quality tier

1
knowledge-base
Knowledge base
1
primary-academic-peer-reviewed
Peer-reviewed clinical / academic
1
unclassified
Unclassified source
1
secondary-established-publication
Established publication

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

Methodology surface for Kenji Urada killed by industrial robot at Kawasaki Heavy Industries Akashi plant — first robot fatality in Japan (1981).

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Canonical ID 48626f0a-3657-493b-a23e-e056d80ad49e