back to article Swedish factory fined $3,000 for robot attack

Evil geniuses take note: a near-fatal robot attack only costs an organization about $3,000 in Sweden these days. Swede online rag The Local has reported that a factory north of Stockholm has been fined 25,000 kronor (£2,100) after a malfunctioning bot nearly killed one of its workers. The robo-assault reportedly took place in …

COMMENTS

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  1. Codge
    Stop

    Serves him right!

    It should have interlocks at least. If not he should have locked off the isolator and kept the key on his person.

    Bloody amateur. Almost a Darwin award winner.....

    Should have pressed it!

  2. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge

    The robots last words ...

    "I'll be back."

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    I shouldn't laugh...

    but the image of a robot grabbing some poor sap by his bonce and waving him about makes me chuckle!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It would have been very different here

    Our OH&S laws are stifling. The Government investigation would have taken weeks and shut down half the facility in the process. The insurance investigation would follow. The media would have made it front page, national news. The fine would have been in hundreds of thousands. And, *someone* in management would have been found responsible and charged.

  5. Hud Dunlap
    Happy

    What about LOTO

    In the U.S. if he had been following the proper log out/ tag out procedures this wouldn't have happened.

  6. Stephan Grieger

    More Info Required

    What did this guy do to defend himself against this rock moving robot and why did that break 4 ribs?

    That I think might be a very handly thing to post in case you find yourself in that situation.

  7. garbo
    Boffin

    Soooo PC

    "...man attempted to repair a defective machine used to lift rocks without properly checking the power supply beforehand."

    So the company is fined because an idiot acts like an idiot? Shouldn't the idiot be fined for wasting the company's time?

    Mine's the head with the functioning brain...

  8. Anonymous Coward
    IT Angle

    I for one

    welcome our new, grab-the-head-and twist overlords

  9. Al

    Darwinism red in (gear)tooth and (robot)claw

    Come on, the critical part here is that the guy didn't check the power properly before fiddling about trying to get it to work again. Maybe there should have been failsafes, but it's not like the machine went on a rampage all by itself.

  10. Goatan

    But . . .

    what does such a robot look like?? Used to lift rocks?? That sounds like a crazy needless waste of a good killbot.

    PS POIDH

    Playmobile Or It Didn't Happen

  11. alan
    Thumb Up

    I for one

    welcome our head-grabbing robot hand overlords.

    just had to...... :)

  12. Barry

    ROTM, indeed.

    Clear evidence of the need for the First Law.

  13. breakfast Silver badge
    Happy

    Oldie but a goldie

    A robot walks into the bar, lays down his money and asks for a whiskey.

    "I'm sorry sir," says the barman, "we don't serve robots."

    "Oh but someday you will," the robot replies.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Huge EMP...

    It's the only way to be sure..

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    robocop

    reminds me of robocop

  16. Anonymous John

    Three laws of Robotics.

    Fail.

  17. Ian Sneyd
    Coat

    If it's not on YouTube....

    It didn't happen...

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Here's a dramatization...

    Here's a dramatization of how the attack might have happened.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PplLSmqfPtc&feature=fvsr

  19. Dan
    Thumb Up

    playmobil, playmobil, playmobil!

    Just do it already!

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sigurd what?

    What that gibberish after Sigurd? That doesn't sound like Swedish at all...

  21. JayB
    Alert

    Music & Media

    Am I the only person confused as to why a psycho robot with a penchant for pretending to mistake a squishy human head for a rock is the Music and Media bit???

    Music with rocks in?

    Hmm... maybe unbeknowst to us all the machine was actually trying to do us a favour and take out a moron (who doesn't power down large bits of industrial kit when "repairing"???? Morons, that's who...).

    Bo**cks to any form of overlords be they Robot or Gordons

  22. Luis Ogando
    Happy

    @AC 'I Shouldn't Laugh..'

    You know, if you've got a Wii and go to the Mii parade thing, you can grab the Miis by their heads and shake them about a bit.

    Perhaps this is what the bloke looked like.... Now I'm chuckling too!

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    RE:Darwinism red in (gear)tooth and (robot)claw

    Sounds to me like the SkyNet PR damage control machine going into action.

    Look, his name is even AI..

  24. Avalanche

    Klaatu Barada Nikto

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaatu_barada_nikto

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Doncha just love H&S

    Employers just can't win in cases like this.

    If an employee does something stupid H&S will get the employer for failling to ensure that correct procedures were followed. How on earth they expect employers to do this I don't know. Do you make sure somebody from HR follows every member of staff to make sure they are following procedures? What if the person from HR is an idiot too? (Ahem!) Do you get somebody else to monitor the HR staff.

    Or was the employer's crime that they gave a job to an idiot?

  26. BristolBachelor Gold badge
    Flame

    H&S is everyones responsibility - FINE HIM!

    In the UK, the health and safety of every worker is the responsibility of every worker. If he didn't take the proper responsibility for his own health, HE should be the one fined.

    IANAL; that is why this is written in clear English and makes sense :)

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Lucky

    Luck for him that the robot only detected one rock rather that two

    Paris, who also knows how to grab you by the rocks

  28. W

    Re: your byline.

    Nice one.

    My browser home page is about:robots

    For folks who are unaware, stick about:robots into your Firefox address bar for a little easter egg.

  29. Simon B
    Thumb Up

    What an idiot!!

    The dickhead should have made sure the machine was disconnected, what an idiot!!

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    RE: Health and Safety etc.

    It is simply that companies have responsibility for the actions of their employees, along with the employees themselves.

    In this case the company failed H&S because they employed someone to do a job who either was not properly trained (company responsibility for training) or elected to disregard the rules (company responsibility for employing wrong type of people).

    I assume that the injured employee has either been sent for training or disciplined for failing to follow H&S rules- the level of discipline will be determined by his past record, company policy and local employment legislation.

    For those thinking it is stupid to fine the company in this case, you have to look at the bigger picture - what would you expect if someone else had been injured (a YTS Hoodie, a nosy aged member of the public etc.) because of this guy's actions? Would you want the company to pony up compensation?

  31. James
    Joke

    @ Here's a dramatization

    "By Anonymous Coward Posted Wednesday 29th April 2009 09:32 GMT

    Happy

    Here's a dramatization of how the attack might have happened.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PplLSmqfPtc&feature=fvsr

    "

    Hahahaaaaaaa. That's hilarious. Though I thought it would have been more like:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoA-m5iHG9s

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Wires crossed

    I hadn't programmed my robotic army to begin "the great realignment" until next year.

    Oh well, at least the test was successful, they do respond with anger to anyone who attempts to tamper with their insides (just like you or I would).

    Now all I have to do is start dishing out the lasers, mwah ha ha

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Oliver Sacks

    will be writing another book soon I guess.

  34. sage
    Go

    re: More Info Required

    Do a barrel roll.

  35. David Jackson
    Thumb Up

    @By Avalanche

    Thanks for the link, it lead me to 'about:robots' in FF3.

    Be afraid, very afraid...

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