{"id":"8922d2c9-a1b7-4650-b857-7aab1ec7fc6b","slug":"kawasaki-kenji-urada-robot-fatality-1981","kind":"injury","headline":"Kenji Urada killed by a Kawasaki robot arm after entering the work envelope, Akashi, Japan (1981)","summary":"In 1981 maintenance worker Kenji Urada was killed at a Kawasaki Heavy Industries plant in Akashi, Japan when he climbed over a safety fence to service a malfunctioning robot without fully powering it down; the hydraulic arm pushed him into an adjacent machine. One of the earliest documented industrial-robot fatalities (exact date variously reported; year firmly established).","occurredAt":"1981-01-01T12:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"reviewed","modelId":null,"deploymentId":null,"companyId":"8186d180-d5ca-4fdc-94c7-af7b2bd881d5","dataCenterId":null,"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"severity":"critical","rootCauseCategory":"human_operator_error","rootCauseDetail":"Worker bypassed the safety fence to service a robot that was not fully de-energized; arm pinned him against an adjacent machine.","affectedUnitsCount":null,"affectedUnitsBasis":null,"remediationStatus":"resolved","regulatoryAction":"none","regulatoryBody":null,"propertyDamageEstimateUsd":null,"damageEstimateBasis":null,"bodilyInjurySeverity":"fatal","fatalityCount":1,"lossCostClass":null,"sourceQualityTier":null,"oshaRecordable":null,"oshaCaseNumber":null,"rootCauseDisclosed":null,"publicDisclosureDate":null,"insuranceClaimPublic":null,"formFactor":null,"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"autonomyClass":null,"legalOutcomeClass":"unknown","createdAt":"2026-06-24T02:58:25.257Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-14T21:53:38.350Z","model":null,"deployment":null,"company":{"id":"8186d180-d5ca-4fdc-94c7-af7b2bd881d5","name":"Kawasaki Heavy Industries","slug":"kawasaki-heavy-industries","description":"Japanese heavy industrial conglomerate producing industrial robots, motorcycles, aerospace, and energy systems. Kawasaki Robotics division is a major industrial robot arm manufacturer. Publicly traded (TSE: 7012).","status":"public (TSE; Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd)","founded":1896,"hq":"Kobe, Japan","hqLat":34.6932379,"hqLng":135.1943764,"hqGeocodedAt":"2026-08-05T14:35:44.928Z","hqAddress":null,"hqPrecision":null,"website":"khi.co.jp","fundingTotal":null,"type":"both","reviewStatus":"reviewed","lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://kawasakirobotics.com/asia-oceania/blog/story_22/","title":"RHP Kaleido 7th-gen specs (180 cm, 80 kg, ~4 km/h gait; iREX 2022)","sourceName":"Kawasaki Robotics (official)"},{"url":"https://kawasakirobotics.com/asia-oceania/blog/20260316_kaleido9/","title":"Kaleido 9 goals (iREX 2025; reinforced joints, LiDAR/SLAM, HMD remote op; ~2030 roadmap)","sourceName":"Kawasaki Robotics (official)"},{"url":"https://biggo.com/news/202512051422_Kawasaki-Kaleido-9-Humanoid-Robot-Launch","title":"Kawasaki unveils Kaleido 9: 18 kg payload (~35% increase)","sourceName":"BigGo News"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"HQ","value":"Kobe, Japan"},{"label":"Founded","value":"1896"},{"label":"Stock","value":"Tokyo Stock Exchange (7012)"},{"label":"Revenue","value":"¥2.31 trillion FY2025 (+8.5% YoY)"},{"label":"Robotics division","value":"Kawasaki Robotics — industrial robot arms, duAro cobots, robotic automation systems"},{"label":"Incidents","value":"None found — audited"}],"aliases":["Kawasaki","Kawasaki Robotics","KHI"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"tickerSymbol":null,"stockExchange":null,"secCik":null,"revenueUsd":null,"revenueBasis":null,"revenueAsOf":null,"employeeCount":null,"employeeCountBasis":null,"employeeCountAsOf":null,"marketCapUsd":null,"marketCapAsOf":null,"marketCapSource":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-03T19:24:28.141Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-05T14:44:23.717Z"},"derived":{"status":"active"},"sources":[{"id":"aaddf346-50ef-48af-9b13-8cf3670608f5","incidentId":"8922d2c9-a1b7-4650-b857-7aab1ec7fc6b","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_Urada","label":"Wikipedia","publishedAt":null,"notes":null,"title":null,"sourceName":null,"mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-24T02:58:25.257Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-24T02:58:25.257Z"}],"responses":[],"statusEvents":[],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/kawasaki-kenji-urada-robot-fatality-1981","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/kawasaki-kenji-urada-robot-fatality-1981","headline":"Kenji Urada killed by a Kawasaki robot arm after entering the work envelope, Akashi, Japan (1981)","description":"In 1981 maintenance worker Kenji Urada was killed at a Kawasaki Heavy Industries plant in Akashi, Japan when he climbed over a safety fence to service a malfunctioning robot without fully powering it down; the hydraulic arm pushed him into an adjacent machine. One of the earliest documented industrial-robot fatalities (exact date variously reported; year firmly established).","identifier":"8922d2c9-a1b7-4650-b857-7aab1ec7fc6b","datePublished":"1981-01-01T12:00:00.000Z","articleSection":"injury","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"},"author":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"verified","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":["knowledge-base"]}}}