Industrial Robotics and the Future of Work.

Journal: American journal of industrial medicine
Published Date: May 1, 2025

Abstract

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.

Authors

  • John Howard
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
  • Vladimir Murashov
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
  • Gary Roth
    Office of Performance, Planning and Evaluation, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
  • Christopher Wendt
    Division of Science Integration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
  • Jacob Carr
    Pittsburgh Mining Research Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
  • Marvin Cheng
    Division of Safety Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.
  • Scott Earnest
    Office of Construction Safety and Health, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
  • K C Elliott
    Office of Agricultural Safety and Health, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Anchorage, Alaska, USA.
  • Emily Haas
    Division of Safety Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.
  • Ci-Jyun Liang
    Department of Civil Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA.
  • Gretchen Petery
    Division of Science Integration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
  • Jennifer Ragsdale
    Division of Science Integration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
  • Christopher Reid
    Boeing Corporation, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
  • Peregrin Spielholz
    Environmental Health and Safety Engineering, Boeing Corporation, Seattle, Washington, USA.
  • Douglas Trout
    Office of Construction Safety and Health, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
  • Divya Srinivasan
    Department of Industrial Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA.

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