Industrial robotics and the future of work.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Carr J ; Cheng M ; Earnest S ; Elliott KC ; Haas E ; Howard J ; Liang C-J ; Murashov V ; Petery G ; Ragsdale J ; Reid C ; Roth G ; Spielholz P ; Srinivasan D ; Trout, Douglas B. ; Wendt C
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• Description:
  Starting in the 1970s with robots that were physically isolated from contact with their human co-workers, robots now collaborate with human workers towards a common task goal in a shared workspace. This type of robotic device represents a new era of workplace automation. Industrial robotics is rapidly evolving due to advances in sensor technology, artificial intelligence (AI), wireless communications, mechanical engineering, and materials science. While these new robotic devices are used mainly in manufacturing and warehousing, human-robot collaboration is now seen across multiple goods-producing and service-delivery industry sectors. Assessing and controlling the risks of human-robot collaboration is a critical challenge for occupational safety and health research and practice as industrial robotics becomes a pervasive feature of the future of work. Understanding the physical, psychosocial, work organization, and cybersecurity risks associated with the increasing use of robotic technologies is critical to ensuring the safe development and implementation of industrial robotics. This commentary provides a brief review of the uses of robotic technologies across selected industry sectors; the risks of current and future industrial robotic applications for worker and employer alike; strategies for integrating human-robot collaboration into a health and safety management system; and the role of robotic safety standards in the future of work. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Occupational Health
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Robotics; Future of work; Emerging technology; Artificial intelligence; Sensors; Occupational safety and health; Risk factors;
  • Author Keywords: cobots; future of work; human-robot collaboration; risk; standards
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; Atlanta Region OSHA ; Chicago Region OSHA ; District of Columbia ; New York ; New York City Region OSHA ; Ohio ; Pennsylvania ; Philadelphia Region OSHA ; San Francisco Region OSHA ; South Carolina ; Washington ; West Virginia
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• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OD - Office of the Director ; OPPE - Office of Program Planning and Evaluation ; DSI - Division of Science Integration ; PMRD - Pittsburgh Mining Research Division ; DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070949
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2025 May; :Epub ahead of print
• Contact Point Address:
  John Howard, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
• Email:
  zkz1@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/247119/cdc_247119_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d