{"id":"ee244be1-a10c-4567-9089-f72a20c7ccb6","slug":"ford-robert-williams-robot-fatality-1979","kind":"injury","headline":"Robert Williams, first known person killed by a robot, struck by a parts-retrieval arm at Ford (1979)","summary":"On Jan 25 1979 at Ford's Michigan Casting Center in Flat Rock, Michigan, Robert Williams was struck and killed by the arm of a one-ton Litton-built parts-retrieval robot while he climbed into a storage rack to retrieve parts the robot was moving too slowly. Widely cited as the first human killed by a robot. His family was later awarded $10M in a 1983 product-liability verdict.","occurredAt":"1979-01-25T12:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"reviewed","modelId":null,"deploymentId":null,"companyId":"d55d9fb8-fae4-424d-9747-2026ec16f97a","dataCenterId":null,"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"severity":"critical","rootCauseCategory":"mechanical_failure","rootCauseDetail":"Robot arm operated with no presence-sensing/stop while a worker entered its working envelope; first known robot fatality.","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":"2026-06-24T02:58:24.321Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-14T21:53:38.350Z","model":null,"deployment":null,"company":{"id":"d55d9fb8-fae4-424d-9747-2026ec16f97a","name":"Ford Motor Company","slug":"ford-motor","description":"[Ford motor](/companies/ford-motor) Company (NYSE: F) is a global automaker developing self-driving technology through Latitude AI (wholly owned subsidiary). 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Widely cited as the first human killed by a robot. His family was later awarded $10M in a 1983 product-liability verdict.","identifier":"ee244be1-a10c-4567-9089-f72a20c7ccb6","datePublished":"1979-01-25T12:00:00.000Z","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"]}}}