The two most common mistakes made during robotics-related risk assessments are oversimplifying and over-complicating the process, says Elena Dominguez, Robot Safety Experts for Pilz.
“I've seen risk assessments where they try to outline in detail every single piece of the application without simplifying and grouping and the analysis becomes so burdensome that you can't picture the basic requirements,” says Dominguez.
By the same token, risk assessments sometimes err on the side of oversimplifying the process.
“I've seen cases where a very simple approach has been taken, resulting in very brief risk assessments that don't address critical tasks and exposures,” says Dominguez.
“Sometimes you need more than that. An over-simplified risk assessment might miss those findings, might miss some hazardous situations that might occur, such as somebody putting themselves in a vulnerable position when unloading a reject bin based on where the bin is located.”