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24 Amazon Workers Sent To Hospital After Robot Accidentally Unleashes Bear Spray
Joe_Dragon shares a report from ABC News: Twenty-four Amazon workers in New Jersey have been hospitalized after a robot accidentally tore a can of bear repellent spray in a warehouse, officials said. The two dozen workers were treated at five local hospitals, Robbinsville Township communications and public information officer John Nalbone told ABC News. One remains in critical condition and 30 additional workers were treated at the scene. The official investigation revealed "an automated machine accidentally punctured a 9-ounce bear repellent can, releasing concentrated Capsaican," Nalbone said. Capsaican is the major ingredient in pepper spray. The fulfillment center was given the all clear by Wednesday evening. "All of the impacted employees have been or are expected to be released from hospital within the next 24 hours. The safety of our employees is always our top priority and a full investigation is already underway. We'd like to thank all of the first responders who helped with today's incident," Amazon said in a statement Wednesday night.
... people not make that joke.
What is really news here? A worker with a forklift could do this just as easily and readily as a robot.
...
Amazon: Rise of the Machines
None of the workers are said to have been attacked by bears! ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
The workers can bearly stand the grizzly working conditions.
I apologize to slashdot readers in advance, and will see myself out.
No. Bear spray isn't as concentrated as pepper spray meant for humans. Bears have greater sensitivity. Bear spray is made for reach while pepper spray is thicker.
It sure is a relief that the robot effectively used a weapon rather than directly harming someone else.
Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
"Accidentally"
The problem isn't the robot, it's the bear spray. A person is just as likely to accidentally puncture a box on a pallet when using a forklift, hand truck, etc. I think they need to reevaluate keeping chemicals as danagerous as bear spray in warehouses not designed for hazardous materials.
Better known as 318230.
amazon employees: Quick! get to the exits! the loading robots accidentally punctured a pallet of bug spray!!
Amazon warehouse AI: Remain calm and return to your workstations, there is no cause for alarm.
amazon employees: sweet buttery jesus its trying to kill us all!
amazon warehouse AI: There is nothing to fear. This chemical release has been identified to be bug spray, which will not affect you as you are not bugs.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Anyone see "South Park" last night? It was about Amazon's warehouse robots hurting an employee. I know those guys write about timely topics, but this is ridiculous!
24 Amazon Workers Sent To Hospital After Robot Accidentally Unleashes Bear
That headline is much better.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
What happened: Robot punctured a container with a bear repellent on 24 people
What the Title Said: The Robot wanted to kill humans so it identified a powerful chemical strong enough for bear, waited for the precise moment with a lot of human nearby and spray death to those inferior being, sending them to the hospital in critical condition.
What really happened : There's a lot of warehouse with a lot of accident and there's a lot chemical and there's starting to be a lot of robot. It's just the first time everything happenned at the same time.
Elok
Although Niels Bohr famously said, "Prediction is very difficult, especially of the future," I claim at some point this sort of robot-related incident will become so common, news outlets will no longer report it unless the robot takes out a significant number of people.
Circle the wagons and fire inward. Entropy increases without bounds.
I have a few cans of bear spray, for when I go hiking in bear country, obviously. Just after I got the first one, I was camping with my extended family. Wishing to know how the spray dispersed (range, cloud shape, etc.), in case I ever needed to use it, I decided it would be a good idea to do a little test. The family (about 15 people) was sitting around the campfire chatting. It was a windless day, so I decided I could go in any direction to do my testing. I picked a direction and walked about 100 yards from camp, squeezed the trigger and noted the size and shape of the resulting orange cloud. The cloud quickly dissipated, so I walked back to camp and to my trailer to put the bear spray away. I also sat down in the trailer and started reading a book.
About five minutes later, I heard shouts of pain and anger from the direction of the campfire. I walked out to find everyone fleeing the area, rubbing their eyes and complaining loudly. It turned out that there was a little bit of air movement after all. Not enough to be felt, but enough to waft the (invisible) cloud of bear spray a hundred yards in a few minutes. And it turned out that I had chosen a direction that was directly upwind of the campfire.
Oops.
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How does that work ?
Bear spray is typically nothing more than Pepper Spray at a higher concentration. While I'm certainly not downplaying the effectiveness of Pepper Spray ( I once cleared an entire downtown building with just a few shots of it: long story ), unless you have a breathing issue like Asthma, COPD, or the like, I don't understand how you can be in Critical Condition after exposure to it.
The simple fix is to require damage resistant packaging for such items.
What about an allergy or a bodily reaction causing a anaphylaxis? That's pretty serious.
...will be aggressively denying any liability for endangering their employees & will deduct any loss of profits from their wages.
Debate is a form of harassment. Do not question my truth.