{"id":"128bdc76-61e7-489c-b054-10c7c0ed6259","slug":"south-korea-packing-robot-fatality-2023","kind":"injury","headline":"Pick-and-place robot crushed a worker at a South Korean vegetable-packing plant (2023)","summary":"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.","occurredAt":"2023-11-08T12:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"unreviewed","modelId":null,"deploymentId":null,"companyId":null,"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"severity":"critical","rootCauseCategory":"human_operator_error","rootCauseDetail":"Pick-and-place robot grabbed a worker inspecting it and pressed him against a conveyor; sensing did not distinguish the person from product.","affectedUnitsCount":null,"affectedUnitsBasis":null,"remediationStatus":"acknowledged","regulatoryAction":"investigation","regulatoryBody":"South Korean authorities","propertyDamageEstimateUsd":null,"damageEstimateBasis":null,"bodilyInjurySeverity":"fatal","fatalityCount":1,"lossCostClass":null,"sourceQualityTier":null,"oshaRecordable":null,"oshaCaseNumber":null,"rootCauseDisclosed":null,"publicDisclosureDate":null,"insuranceClaimPublic":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-24T02:58:27.117Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-24T02:58:27.117Z","model":null,"deployment":null,"company":null,"derived":{"status":"active"},"sources":[{"id":"9e1a8909-106b-4dac-b9cb-f4debd49654d","incidentId":"128bdc76-61e7-489c-b054-10c7c0ed6259","url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/industrial-robot-crushes-worker-dead-south-korea/","label":"CBS News","publishedAt":null,"notes":null,"title":null,"sourceName":null,"mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-24T02:58:27.117Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-24T02:58:27.117Z"}],"responses":[],"statusEvents":[],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/south-korea-packing-robot-fatality-2023","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/south-korea-packing-robot-fatality-2023","headline":"Pick-and-place robot crushed a worker at a South Korean vegetable-packing plant (2023)","description":"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.","identifier":"128bdc76-61e7-489c-b054-10c7c0ed6259","datePublished":"2023-11-08T12:00:00.000Z","articleSection":"injury","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"},"author":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"unreviewed","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":1,"primary_source_types":[]}}}