One in 21 workers at Tesla's Gigafactory is injured
Documents submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration show that working conditions at Tesla's Gigafactory in Austin, Texas are so poor that one in 21 employees will be injured by 2022. became.
At Tesla's Giant Texas Factory, Injuries and Safety Lapses Mount — The Information
Tesla workers report explosions, concussions, and grisly robot injuries at Texas factory - The Verge
This was reported by the news site The Information based on data submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
For example, in April 2021, there was an accident in which an engineer approached a robot arm that was not operating, but was somehow scratched by the arm that was operating as specified, and was thrown against a wall. The arm stopped working because someone pressed the emergency stop button, but the engineer fell into the shooter while bleeding from his back and arm, leaving a trail of blood. An injury report was filed in Travis County alleging a robot-related accident, but the details did not match the testimony of witnesses.
In addition, in 2022, an employee was hit by a trolley and suffered an injury that took 127 days to recover from, and a few days later, another employee sustained a head injury that took 85 days to recover from.
Additionally, in January 2023, an explosion occurred in a metal casting area, resulting in at least one person suffering a concussion. It is believed that water accidentally got into a press machine that handles molten aluminum.
In June 2023, a contractor who was installing grating on an elevated walkway fell. The cause was a lack of protective equipment, and the grating also fell, causing the worker to become trapped under it, suffering a broken bone and a punctured lung. Additionally, factory workers reported that air conditioning ducts, steel beams, and construction materials had fallen nearby.
According to factory employees, the molding machines sometimes do not work properly and spew out molten metal, but when they proposed a solution, they were reprimanded, saying, ``If you shut down the machines, productivity will drop.''
These stories aren't unique to the Austin Gigafactory; the Fremont, Calif., factory has a higher injury rate for its workers than the national average, and Tesla has been accused of underreporting injuries and inadequate safety precautions for outdoor tents. He was accused of such crimes and was fined $29,365 (approximately 4.4 million yen).
By the way, the news site The Verge points out that Tesla chose Austin, Texas, as the location for its new factory because Texas has a 'Right to Work Law.'
Although workers are obligated to join a trade union, the RTW Act gives workers the option to refuse to join a trade union. As a result, in states with RTW laws, union membership rates decline and the influence of unions declines. Tesla's CEO Elon Musk is an opponent of labor unions, so he is making the most of the RTW law's benefits.
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