Amazon Deploys "Robotic Tech Jacket" to Prevent Workers From Being Touched by Robots

Amazon has begun deploying a "new portable equipment for worker safety" in more than 25 of its sites over the past year, TechCrunch reported Friday, namely a "robotic vest for technology" that warns robots locating workers in an installation. prevent accidents at work.

The vest in question has built-in sensors that allow Amazon robots to detect obstacles (in this case, humans) and bypbad them. The vice president of Amazon Robotics, Brad Porter, told TechCrunch that before, workers had to manually register their locations in an Amazon installation to avoid collisions with robots:

"All of our robotic systems use multiple security systems, from training equipment to physical barriers to entry, process control and internal controls," said Brad Porter, vice president of Amazon Robotics at TechCrunch. "Previously, badociates marked the grid of cells where they worked to allow the robotic traffic planner to move intelligently in this region. What the jacket allows the robots to do, is to detect the man from further away and intelligently update his movement plan to stand apart, without any problem. it is necessary for the badociate to explicitly delimit these areas. "

As TechCrunch notes, OSHA warns that studies suggest that many robot accidents at US workplaces "occur under unusual operating conditions, such as programming, maintenance, testing, configuration, or maintenance." "adjustment", when workers can be "temporarily within the limits of the work of the robot". . "

Amazon continues its momentum by installing more and more robots in its distribution centers. During the 2018 holiday season, the company hired fewer temporary staff, but broke all shipping records, a clear sign that automation drives Amazon's growth.

Porter added in his statement to TechCrunch that the jacket had been a "huge hit" and had logged more than a million unique activations. "

Amazon is certainly right to invest in security. His staff repeatedly complained of long hours of work, constant monitoring at the workplace and unfair wages, but also avoidable injuries at the workplace in his workplaces. hectic warehouses.

Last April, the National Council on Occupational Safety and Health issued a report claiming that Amazon was one of the country's most dangerous workplaces. The organization wrote that CEO Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, had accumulated such wealth "largely on a business model that predicts a ruthless pace of work and constant monitoring of employees." Between 2013 and the release of the report, National COSH found that seven workers had died in Amazon warehouses.

Two people were reportedly hit by large vehicles and two others by forklifts. Another was "killed after being dragged and crushed by a treadmill at an Amazon warehouse in Avenel, New Jersey" in 2013. Another was "rushed and
pinned to death by a pallet loader
in an Amazon warehouse
Carlisle, Pennsylvania "in 2014, according to the report.

Later in 2018, a Guardian investigation revealed "many cases" of workplace accidents or other injuries in Amazon's labyrinthine supply chain, with many workers "homeless, unable to work, or deprived of income" ".

More recently, dozens of workers were injured in December 2018 when, according to the Washington Post, an "automated machine" struck and broke 9 oz. May contain an insect repellent – containing, among other things, capsaicin, the chemical that spices spicy foods and in large amounts is a strong irritant.