Robotics Activations apologized for the UV disinfection accident

Many times, men proved technology is useful in disease prevention and sanitation, especially during this health crisis or pandemic. For example, LGUs here were able to use drones to disinfect public places and announce social distancing reminders. But what if the idea has gone band and it resulted to a setback?

Using a robot instead of humans to prevent exposure to chemicals

The local government of Baguio City has been planning to acquire a UV-C disinfecting robot to counter COVID-19. With the aim of the Keno UVC from Denmark, the LGU aims to speed up disinfection and prevent the spread of the disease. The technology is allegedly capable of covering 5,500 square meters per hour.

Robotic Activations featured “Keno”, its UV-C disinfection robot, at the Baguio Convention Center before the National Task Force CODE team. The manufacturing company created this to to kill harmful pathogens.

Also, it is supposedly built with state-of-the-art safety and precision sensors. The company added that the machine can disinfect large areas “without human exposure to chemicals.” However, but the demo had caused eye irritations to some of the spectators. Eight members from the media reported that they had medical treatments because of the exposure from the UV light.

An apology from Robotic Activations

So last Saturday, the robotics company issued a public apology. Robotic Activations Chief of Business Development Camille Anton said, “We sincerely thought we had exercised enough precautions when the press asked to switch the robot on, but it turns out we didn’t,”.

Anton added that they are already updating their protocols to ensure the incident won’t repeat itself in the future. She also guaranteed that use of UV disinfection is safe as long as proper precautions are in place.

Anton said they are already updating their protocols to ensure the incident doesn’t happen again. She also assured that the use of UV disinfection is safe as long as proper precautions are in place. “The discomfort from UV exposure is real, but is supposed to be temporary, by all accounts. We remain in contact with those affected to ensure that this is the case. We have reached out, apologized and offered assistance to them, and are hopeful that they will recover quickly,” she added.

According to World Health Organization and the Department of Health, the use of disinfecting UV lamps has health hazards. Health officials said not properly using UV light may pose harmful effects. This includes eye and skin burns. In addition to that, the DOH advised against disinfecting sprays as can further “aerosolize” or spread droplets into the air. The agency said that the best method is manually wiping surfaces using a rag to kill the virus.

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