Michigan Company Fined In Employee's Death By Robot

IONIA, Mich. (AP) - State regulators have proposed a $7,000 fine for a western Michigan company in the death of an employee who got caught in a robotic machine.

Bill Holbrook says his wife's head injuries were so severe that the funeral home recommended a closed casket.

Wanda Holbrook was killed last July at Ventra Ionia Main in Ionia. The company makes auto bumpers, trailer hitches and chrome-plated plastics.

State inspectors say a lockout device could have halted the machine when Holbrook entered the robotic cell. General Manager John Atkinson declined to comment when contacted about the fine by The Grand Rapids Press .

The company has two weeks to appeal.

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