Tesla struck with nearly $ 30,000 in fines for counting risks

Penalties from California regulators raise new issues of workplace security at Tesla's automotive manufacturing facility in Fremont.

California's Occupational Safety and Health Working Group (Cal-OSHA) inspected GA4, an assembly line Tesla constructed in an open air structure outside the main plant in less than a month, between June 21 and December 18 (the agency did not specify the number of times the facility visited ) and issued penalties for six breaches of California's employment regulations. The quotes resulted in fines totaling $ 29,365.

According to Cal-OSHA, Tesla failed to do the following:

• Obtain permission before building GA4
• Inspect GA4 for potential safety hazard
• Cover or protect an opening in the GA4 floor that was 22 inches wide, 1[ads1]4 inches long and 8 inches deep
• Train enough staff to help evacuate workers from the facility in case of emergency
• Direct employee trains to prevent and respond to heat disease
• Protect workers from exposed metal bars and rebar that constituted a "danger of impalement "

Tesla appealed the quotes and said for each that it did not break the stated regulation and that the corresponding punishment was unreasonable.

"Nothing is more important to me or Tesla than the health and well-being of healthcare professionals," said Laurie Shelby, Tesla's vice president for environment, health and safety in a statement to Business Insider. "My EHS team and operational managers have focused strongly on GA4 over the past six months and are implementing security protocols through the new line that not only keeps Tesla in line with existing standards but also reduces the risk of employees. The OSHA inspection did not arise from anyone event or injury and occurred during the construction of the project. Tesla will challenge OSHA's safety conditions findings that were present at the time of the GA4 construction, "

Read more: Ex-Tesla employees describe the sudden way they were laid off and asked questions dreams

Thomas Armstrong, professor at the University of Michigan, who has worked with auto companies to make their production processes more ergonomically friendly, told Business Insider that the breaches are not surprising due to the speed at which Tesla built GA4, but he said the fractures do not necessarily indicate that the plant is uncertain since they are large It is wrong to take preventive measures, instead of employee damages.

"It is certainly not an endorsement for their safety culture, but again it does not mean that they do not work safely," he said.

The types of violations Tesla was quoted for are common in the automotive industry, and the fine Tesla received amounts "a blow to the wrist," Armstrong said.

Do you have a Tesla news point? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com.

Questions about worker safety

Damage statistics and media reports have raised questions about worker safety at Tesla's factories, although concerns about workplace safety are not unique to Tesla in the automotive industry.

A report from the Workingafe Employee Association in 2017 says that the injury rate in Tesla's Fremont factory was 31% higher than the industry average in 2015 and 2016, but in 2018, Tesla said it had made security improvements leading to recordable injury rates. fall by almost 25% in 2017. The car manufacturer said that 2017 recordable injury rate was "equivalent" to the industry average.

Worksafe has not released an analysis of Tesla's 2017 or 2018 injury rates, but Tesla received several quotes from OSHA related to vehicle production than Ford, General Motors or Fiat Chrysler from 2017 until the end of 2018. Tesla received 21 quotes during 2018 that period while Ford received 15, General Motors received three, and Fiat Chrysler received one. Ford was fined most during this period, $ 102,554, while Tesla was fined $ 63,870, General Motors was fined $ 14,122, and Fiat Chrysler was fined $ 7,967.

Although OSHA's online database does not reveal nature For each fracture, Reveal published in 2018 reported that Tesla failed to report reported work injuries, avoided using safety marks for aesthetic reasons, and failed to provide injured persons with proper medical assistance. The first report was published before Tesla built GA4, and the other one made no mention of the facility.

Tesla has denied that it has misreported work injuries and failed to use security tags for aesthetic reasons. The car manufacturer did not respond to requests for comment on the claim that it failed to provide the injured staff with proper medical treatment.

An Unconventional Decision

The decision to build an open air structure to supplement car production in less than a month was unconventional. It was motivated by a desire to meet production targets for the model 3-sedan, which had been subject to considerable production delays in the previous year.

Michael Ramsey, a car analyst at Gartner, told Business Insider at the time that the movement had no precedent in the automotive industry.

"It's extremely unusual, at least," he said. "I've never heard of anyone doing this before on a large scale."

But Tesla CEO Elon Musk praised GA4 on several occasions and said he preferred it to the main plant and highlighted how it increased the automaker's output output by 50%.

"It's actually better than the factory building. More comfortable and great views of the mountains," Musk said in June.