{"id":"9e30282b-072c-47a4-bc76-fbbfab42a859","slug":"osha-ajin-elsea-robot-crushing-fatality-2016","kind":"fatality","headline":"OSHA: Temporary worker Regina Elsea crushed to death by assembly-line robot at Ajin USA auto-parts plant (2016)","summary":"On June 18, 2016, Regina Elsea, a 20-year-old temporary worker at Joon LLC (dba Ajin USA), an auto-parts supplier to Kia and Hyundai in Cusseta, Alabama, was fatally crushed when she and coworkers entered a robotic station to clear a sensor fault and a robot restarted abruptly, pinning her inside the cell. She died the next day. OSHA's investigation cited Ajin USA and staffing agencies Alliance Total Solutions and Joynus Staffing for 27 violations, including 19 egregious instance-by-instance willful violations tied to lockout/tagout and machine-guarding failures, with proposed penalties of about $2.5 million. (U.S. DOL/OSHA news release, Dec. 14, 2016.)","occurredAt":"2016-06-18T00:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"reviewed","modelId":null,"deploymentId":null,"companyId":null,"dataCenterId":null,"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"severity":"catastrophic","rootCauseCategory":"maintenance_deficiency","rootCauseDetail":null,"affectedUnitsCount":1,"affectedUnitsBasis":"exact","remediationStatus":"acknowledged","regulatoryAction":"fine","regulatoryBody":"OSHA","propertyDamageEstimateUsd":null,"damageEstimateBasis":null,"bodilyInjurySeverity":"fatal","fatalityCount":1,"lossCostClass":null,"sourceQualityTier":1,"oshaRecordable":null,"oshaCaseNumber":null,"rootCauseDisclosed":null,"publicDisclosureDate":null,"insuranceClaimPublic":null,"formFactor":null,"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"autonomyClass":"not_applicable","legalOutcomeClass":"charges_filed","createdAt":"2026-06-25T10:18:53.861Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-22T00:05:00.842Z","model":null,"deployment":null,"company":null,"derived":{"status":"active"},"sources":[{"id":"1206625d-c0ad-4559-ad40-a6a3bd123938","incidentId":"9e30282b-072c-47a4-bc76-fbbfab42a859","url":"https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20161214-0","label":null,"publishedAt":null,"notes":null,"title":"Alabama auto parts supplier to Kia and Hyundai, staffing agencies face $2.5M in fines after robot fatally crushes young bride-to-be","sourceName":"U.S. Department of Labor / OSHA","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-22T00:32:49.764Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-22T00:32:49.764Z"},{"id":"dedf382f-76d4-4043-87cc-cac8c45b69cd","incidentId":"9e30282b-072c-47a4-bc76-fbbfab42a859","url":"https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Joon_Ajin_1156866.pdf","label":null,"publishedAt":null,"notes":null,"title":"OSHA Citations - Joon LLC (dba Ajin USA)","sourceName":"OSHA","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-22T00:32:50.527Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-22T00:32:50.527Z"},{"id":"c91f5cc0-3772-413e-956e-3726c9fe525b","incidentId":"9e30282b-072c-47a4-bc76-fbbfab42a859","url":"https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/auto-parts-manufacturing-company-sentenced-worker-death-case","label":null,"publishedAt":null,"notes":null,"title":"Auto-Parts Manufacturing Company Sentenced in Worker Death Case — DOJ","sourceName":"U.S. Department of Justice","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-22T00:56:53.506Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-22T00:56:53.506Z"},{"id":"8281c928-844d-4541-8719-5cfade86c3e1","incidentId":"9e30282b-072c-47a4-bc76-fbbfab42a859","url":"https://www.manufacturingdive.com/news/ajin-usa-joon-OSHA-hyundai-supplier-safety-penalty/644590/","label":null,"publishedAt":null,"notes":null,"title":"Hyundai supplier to pay $1.3M in penalties for 2016 worker death","sourceName":"Manufacturing Dive","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-22T00:56:54.379Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-22T00:56:54.379Z"}],"responses":[],"statusEvents":[],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/osha-ajin-elsea-robot-crushing-fatality-2016","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/osha-ajin-elsea-robot-crushing-fatality-2016","headline":"OSHA: Temporary worker Regina Elsea crushed to death by assembly-line robot at Ajin USA auto-parts plant (2016)","description":"On June 18, 2016, Regina Elsea, a 20-year-old temporary worker at Joon LLC (dba Ajin USA), an auto-parts supplier to Kia and Hyundai in Cusseta, Alabama, was fatally crushed when she and coworkers entered a robotic station to clear a sensor fault and a robot restarted abruptly, pinning her inside the cell. She died the next day. OSHA's investigation cited Ajin USA and staffing agencies Alliance Total Solutions and Joynus Staffing for 27 violations, including 19 egregious instance-by-instance willful violations tied to lockout/tagout and machine-guarding failures, with proposed penalties of about $2.5 million. (U.S. DOL/OSHA news release, Dec. 14, 2016.)","identifier":"9e30282b-072c-47a4-bc76-fbbfab42a859","datePublished":"2016-06-18T00:00:00.000Z","articleSection":"fatality","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":4,"primary_source_types":[]}}}