Robot Crushes Worker at VW Plant

July 2, 2015

Contractor dies from injuries sustained while installing machinery at VW plant.

A contractor was killed allegedly while installing a robot at a Volkswagen transmission plant in Germany.

The worker earlier this week was installing machinery in Volkswagen’s Kassel factory when he was trapped by a robotic arm and crushed into a metal plate, according to early reports.

“He died later in hospital from his injuries and our thoughts are with his family,” Volkswagen said in a statement.

“We are of course carrying out a full investigation into the incident and cannot comment further at this time.”

The Kassel plant, which employs about 15,500 people, is the company’s primary transmission plant, and annually supplies the entire Volkswagen Group with about 4 million manual and automatic transmissions.

About the Author

Ginger Christ | Associate Editor

Ginger Christ is an associate editor for EHS Today, a Penton publication.

She has covered business news for the past seven years, working at daily and weekly newspapers and magazines in Ohio, including the Dayton Business Journal and Crain’s Cleveland Business.

Most recently, she covered transportation and leadership for IndustryWeek, a sister publication to EHS Today.

She holds a bachelor of arts in English and in Film Studies from the University of Pittsburgh.

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