The first human ever killed by a robot was a Ford Motor Company worker in 1979.

On January 25, 1979, 25-year-old assembly line worker Robert Williams became the first recorded person to be killed by a robot. The incident occurred at the Ford Motor Company's Michigan Casting Center in Flat Rock. Williams was tasked with retrieving parts from a storage rack, a job usually performed by a five-story robotic transfer machine. The robot began malfunctioning and providing erroneous inventory counts, so Williams climbed into the storage rack to retrieve the parts manually. While he was inside the workspace, the one-ton robotic arm continued its programmed movement and struck him in the head, killing him instantly. The robot was not equipped with any sensors to detect a human presence or stop its motion upon impact. Following the incident, a jury awarded Williams' family $10 million in damages after concluding that Ford had not implemented sufficient safety measures. This landmark case highlighted the extreme dangers of industrial automation without human-centric safety features. It directly led to the establishment of the first safety standards for industrial robots by the Robotic Industries Association. Modern industrial robots now operate within 'safety cells' or use collaborative technology known as cobots. These systems utilize Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), ultrasonic sensors, and sensitive pressure mats to create invisible barriers. If a human enters the restricted zone, the robot is programmed to cut power immediately to prevent injury or death.