In June this year, two industrial‑equipment‑related safety incidents occurred in China one after another. At a certain marine resort, an industrial robotic arm was used for high‑altitude performances: dancers were strapped to the end of the arm and lifted to heights of 2–3 meters, with no guardrails or safety barriers in place, leaving spectators virtually face-to-face with the performance area. Several professionals in the machinery industry publicly voiced their concerns, and the project was subsequently ordered by local authorities to be taken down and brought into compliance.

In the same month, during a robotic martial-arts interactive performance at a certain 3A‑rated scenic spot, a humanoid robot kicked a six-year-old boy in the abdomen.

The common thread between the two incidents is clear: in areas where industrial equipment is operating, even the most basic protective barriers were absent. Following the events, post‑incident reviews by all parties consistently pointed to the same conclusion: “We thought it would be fine.” 
Tourist attractions are not factories and do not operate under stringent production‑line standards. Yet this kind of wishful thinking is equally prevalent in automated manufacturing facilities, warranting serious attention from all industrial safety professionals.

Related materials:

GB 11291, “Safety Requirements for Robots Used in Industrial Environments,” is a mandatory national standard that explicitly mandates the installation of safety barriers and protective enclosures in robot work areas, along with compliance with the associated safety distance requirements (as specified in GB 23821) and an emergency stop mechanism. The ISO 10218 series of standards likewise stipulates physical separation between humans and robots as a fundamental requirement for the safe integration of robotic cells and systems. 
The requirements of these standards are very clear: Within the operating envelope of industrial robots, safety fencing is mandatory—not optional. However, in practice, it is far from uncommon for fences to be weakened, ignored, or even deliberately dismantled. 
A set of overseas data serves as a warning to us.

According to U.S. OSHA data on serious workplace injuries from 2015 to 2022, there were 77 major robot-related accidents resulting in 93 severe injuries, including traumatic amputations of fingers, skull fractures, and life‑threatening torso trauma. Moreover, these figures reflect only incidents that met reporting thresholds; the actual number of latent hazards is far higher. In 2023, an accident at a Fremont‑based automotive plant of a major U.S. brand was particularly illustrative: while dismantling a robotic arm, the equipment suddenly unleashed an impact force of nearly 3,600 kilograms, knocking the worker to the ground and triggering a substantial safety‑related lawsuit. As technology continues to advance and equipment undergoes constant upgrades, companies must proactively establish comprehensive, professional safety‑protection systems, discard any sense of complacency, and address safety risks at their source.

⏩ In a comprehensive industrial security framework, physical protection serves as the core foundation.

Today, industrial safety measures have become increasingly sophisticated, with technologies such as light‑grid sensors, machine vision, and intelligent early‑warning systems providing multiple layers of support for safe production in factories. However, the industry is prone to a common cognitive bias: the belief that relying on various smart safety technologies can completely eliminate risks associated with equipment operation.

This is also why the core principle consistently upheld by national standards, industry standards, and international standards is: Human–machine isolation, physical‑first approach, multi‑layered protection, and comprehensive fallback measures. Intelligent protection, electrical protection, and early‑warning monitoring all serve as critical complements to the overall security framework, while stable, reliable, and 24/7‑effective physical isolation constitutes the foundational enabler for all security measures. These elements are mutually reinforcing and indispensable, together forming a comprehensive industrial cybersecurity architecture.

⏩ Upholding the 3E principles to fortify the baseline of industrial safety protection.

Industrial safety does not rely on luck or wishful thinking; it depends on a solid, stable, and reliable physical protection system. Ecoguard has been deeply committed to the field of industrial security isolation and protection, consistently upholding the three E core principles to safeguard the safety baseline of human–machine isolation in the smart manufacturing industry.

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