The New South Wales Government’s Center for Work Health and Safety has released a world-first set of guidelines for working safely with collaborative robots (cobots), Guidelines for Safe Collaborative Robot Design and Implementation.

Natasha Mann, Head of SafeWork NSW says the new guidelines were developed in partnership with the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing, University of Technology Sydney, Robotics Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Kairos Now and the Centre for Inclusive Design.

According to Ms Mann, the potential WHS risks cobots present are reasonably well known overseas, with several cases of workers being injured in cobot-related incidents.

“The world-first set of guidelines directly address this gap by offering practical guidance for preventing robot-related injuries from occurring, and in turn, curbing potential WHS incidents in the future.”

“Despite increasing cobot usage and the risks involved, there is a gap in the current workplace health and safety framework around how workplaces can safely engage with robots. says,” Ms Mann.

“They offer easy-to-adopt strategies and resources to plan and design cobot-safe workplaces, mitigate hazards and minimise harm, and are designed to be used on both strategic-level for businesses and an operational level for workers.,”

What are Collaborative Robots?

A cobot, also known as a collaborative robot, is specifically designed for interacting with humans in the same space or in close proximity. This type of robot is distinct from industrial robots, which are kept away from any human contact.

The Global Federation of Robotics (IFR), a global industry association of robot manufacturers and national robot associations, distinguishes between two types of robots:

• Industrial robots – Employed in automation in an industrial setting
• Service robots – For home and other professional utilisation.

Service robots could be thought of as collaborative robots (cobots) since they are designed to work together with humans.

Industrial robots have usually been operated separately from people behind barriers or other safeguards, however cobots eliminate this division.

Ms Mann says the research informing the guidelines included identifying WHS risks of working with cobots, a study to explore human attitudes and perceptions about how safe design can be supported and enabled, and codesign sessions to support safe implementation.

The guidelines for safe collaborative robot design and implementation have been divided into six individual documents and have been been closely aligned with the “Cobot Workplace Safety Checklists” designed to identify and control potential risks in a “human-cobot collaborative” shared workplace across its lifecycle.