Robots are taking over -- the really dangerous jobs

With con­tin­u­ing advance­ments in automa­tion, price and acces­si­bil­i­ty are allow­ing more and more com­pa­nies to imple­ment robots into their pro­duc­tion. Under­stand­ably, this change can cre­ate fear in work­ers who feel their jobs may be tak­en away. In real­i­ty, robots are reliev­ing these work­ers from jobs that are tedious, dull and some­times dan­ger­ous while allow­ing them to advance into bet­ter opportunities.

One of the best exam­ples of robots keep­ing work­ers out of harm’s way is robot­ic weld­ing. Repet­i­tive man­u­al weld­ing is extreme­ly haz­ardous to the human body. Dan­ger­ous fumes from met­als and coat­ings can lead to seri­ous ill­ness­es. Some prod­ucts con­tain lead or asbestos; and expo­sure can lead to emphy­se­ma, lung can­cer and even kid­ney fail­ure.

Along with the fumes, man­u­al weld­ing pro­duces a lot of noise and intense heat. The loud envi­ron­ment can cause hear­ing loss and stress in the welder; while the heat can cause burns or heat exhaus­tion. The ultra­vi­o­let light from the weld­ing torch can cause Ultra­vi­o­let Ker­ati­tis, also known as ​“welder’s flash.” 

Robot­ic weld­ing cells have sev­er­al safe­ty fea­tures to make sure work­ers are pro­tect­ed. Safe­ty fenc­ing, inter­lock­ing door switch­es, and light cur­tains keep humans out of the area while the weld­ing robot is in oper­a­tion. While a work­er is load­ing parts, a met­al divider attached to the posi­tion­er keeps them safe from arc glare and sparks from the weld­ing torch. 

In facil­i­ties with robot­ic weld­ing, work­ers are still need­ed to oper­ate, mon­i­tor and inspect the robot and its welds. Safe­ty is the high­est pri­or­i­ty and inte­grat­ing a robot­ic work­cell with safe­ty fea­tures is a great way to stay com­pet­i­tive and cre­ate more jobs locally. 

Ready to move toward weld­ing automa­tion? Con­tact Robots​.com today online or at 877−762−6881 to begin build­ing your robot weld­ing work­cell.