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 …
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.
"...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...
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
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?
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?
"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
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
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