Robotic technology has always promised to make our lives easier, and in recent years, it is demonstrating significant returns on this front. In the industrial workplace, robots have taken on stressful and high-strain tasks. In this article, we are going to take a brief look at the most notable ways in which robots can be used to address unsafe work conditions.
Heavy Lifting
Although industrial workplaces often involve toxic chemicals or massive and complicated machinery, one of the most notable injury sources is a much more mundane activity: heavy lifting. Due to insufficient workplace safety standards and training, improper lifting techniques or equipment, insufficient workers, or even unrealistic expectations, heavy lifting activities can be highly stressful to workers’ bodies. Immediate overextension injuries can occur under the best of circumstances, including muscle strains or tears, knee and foot ligament injuries, or herniated disks, while long-term overuse injuries can stack up over time.
Repetitive lifting of heavy objects can lead to musculoskeletal disorders and premature death, not to mention more immediate issues with fatigue and worker recovery. Both immediate and long-term injuries like these are subject to employee compensation regulations, and as such heavy lifting activities can cost a company significantly through pensions and worker’s compensation.
Rather than continuing to expose workers to these conditions and activities, robotic technology can take on heavy lifting tasks with relative ease. Beyond even their capabilities to lift heavier objects without fatigue, It is possible to repair or replace a component of a metal robot, which is not possible for a human worker. Robotic technology can significantly improve workplace productivity by enabling heavier lifting without breaks.
Using Robots for Repetitive Tasks
The workers at an industrial worksite are capable of performing various complex tasks. Unfortunately, they are often relegated to performing highly repetitive tasks. Such charges can leave them vulnerable to fatigue, boredom, or burnout, which can lead directly to human error accidents. Beyond this, repetitive utilization of employees wastes valuable labor resources – time, money, and manpower – on tasks that companies could otherwise automate.
Robotic technology offers many advantages for such tasks. They can be designed for any number of repetitive tasks in a wide variety of environments. This advantage can render them immune to common workplace hazards while removing workers from intensive, repetitive environments. Robots further outperform human workers in precision across repetitions, allowing for simplification and standardization of tasks.
Working in Dangerous Environments
Many of the dangers of industrial workplaces come from exposure to potentially toxic or hazardous chemicals and environments. While most areas in such workplaces are safe, certain activities can be highly dangerous. This reality is particularly relevant for tank cleaning and sewage or chemical cleanup. Confined space entry is hazardous to workers, and robots can take over many of the stresses of working in such spaces without exposing workers to these dangers.
Other environmental dangers include exposure to hazardous and carcinogenic chemicals or extreme heat. While not the only example, welding is a prime example of such dangers. It exposes workers to the metal fumes and incredibly high heat that often occur in hazardous locations, such as atop a large construction site or even underwater.
In all these situations, the best way to ensure worker safety is to remove the worker from these situations entirely. Developments in robotic technology for confined space entry, tank cleaning, and welding have made it possible to improve efficiency and worker safety across the industrial worksite, and there are promises of even more applications in the future.
Make Your Workplace a Safe Space
While the ultimate goal is to remove all dangers from the industrial worksite, it is impossible to fully eliminate all hazardous materials and situations from the strenuous and complex operations of industry. Still, removing employees from direct danger should always be the priority whenever possible, and robotic technology offers many opportunities to do so. Robotics technology has evolved significantly over the past several decades and continues to advance as we look for ways to enhance its functionality.
Robots can be highly productive, fatigue resistant, and handle tools precisely for any number of activities otherwise dangerous to workers. They can significantly reduce the possibility of accidents and allow for the removal of employees from hazardous environments and repetitive tasks to places where their extraordinary skills can be better applied. These characteristics make robots useful across various industries, including welding, construction, plumbing, and more.
Take this opportunity to consider where robotic technology can prove helpful within your plant’s operations.