Fact of the Week: A 10 Percent Increase in Robot Density in Manufacturing Sectors Results in a 2 Percent Decrease in Injuries
Source: Marco De Simone, et al., “The Impact of Robots on Workplace Injuries and Deaths: Empirical Evidence from Europe,” (working paper, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy, February 2025).
Commentary: Over 300 million workplace accidents occur every year, resulting in injury and death for workers. The economic burden of these accidents is substantial, with estimates that 4 percent of GDP is lost annually due to these incidents. In a study published by Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, researchers find that robot adoption in manufacturing industries can reduce the incidence of injury and death, albeit with some caveats. Their sample of 15 manufacturing industries across 18 European nations from 2011 to 2019 found that a 10 percent increase in robot density (the number of robots per thousand workers) resulted in a 0.07 percent reduction in fatalities and a 1.96 percent decrease in injuries. These results were most prominent in technology-intensive sectors and nations with strong worker protection. In technological industries, the increase in robot adoption led to a three times greater reduction in fatalities (0.22 percent) and a five times greater reduction in injuries (9.98 percent) than the baseline. Relatedly, countries with stronger labor protections, including Finland and Denmark, experienced a greater reduction in deaths and injuries (0.1 percent and 4.84 percent, respectively) compared to the baseline.
