Serious injuries at Tesla plant double industry average: report

Ut oh. Looks like Tesla has a very unsafe work environment in Cali according to a report using Tesla's own internal data. Double the industry average, if this is not an oddly slanted report, Tesla is open to huge fines and lawsuits.
Making cars is hard and when the assembly and human interaction is not properly engineered, it can be very dangerous.

The rate of serious injuries at a Tesla factory in California is double the industry average, a worker advocacy group said Wednesday in a report calling for better workplace protections.

The study by Worksafe, a California nonprofit group, used Tesla's own internal data to show injury rates at the company's plant in Fremont, California.

Total injuries at the plant are a third higher than the industry average, the report said.

The United Auto Workers (UAW), the industry's largest union in the United States, commissioned the report.

www.yahoo.com...

The UAW is also undergoing an "intense" effort to unionize the Tesla plant-perhaps from a safety standpoint this is a good idea?

The UAW has an intense effort underway to organize workers at the Tesla plant in Fremont, where employees backing the union have filed numerous charges with the National Labor Relations Board in Oakland, claiming harassment for pro-union activities. Tesla has denied those allegations.

a reply to: seasonal

My conspiracy sense is tingeling. What the hell are they really building there? This is definitively not normal and it smells fishy.

I didnt read the article but i assume someone got electrocuted.. 🤓

a reply to: seasonal

So here are the statistics from the article.

The rate of serious injuries -- those involving job transfers or missed days -- was 7.9 per 100 workers, compared to the industry average of 3.9, Worksafe wrote.
The data -- which compared injury rates among auto assembly workers, not suppliers -- also found a recordable total incidence rate of 8.8 injuries per 100 workers, compared to 6.7 for the industry as a whole.

so in reality, it is four more people out of 100 than the average 4 out of 100. This seems miniscule. Plus there are other factors that are plainly left out of this article. Does tesla have a more stringent policy of reporting incidents than say, Ford or GM? Do Ford and Gm have ways (unions) to keep some incidents from being reported?

The United Auto Workers (UAW), the industry's largest union in the United States, commissioned the report.

Ahhh... so the folks with the most to gain are the one's yelling the loudest.

I bet their proposed solution to this proposed problem is to let them unionize the Tesla plant?

a reply to: Woodcarver

Coming from a factory background in skilled trade, this would cause a huge problem in both fines and job loss (management).

If you step out of line, in this case it is an industry average. You are gone and someone who can do the job is hired.

Perhaps the $5,000,000,000 in tax money given as tax subs. to a certain group of companies needs some oversight?

a reply to: seasonal

This is literally the only MO that these unions know. They are not beyond planting employees who will happily (payed) bolster the amount of incidents reported. I would like to see all of the injury reports myself and make a conclusion based on the seriousness of the injuries. If there are a few more splinters and razorknife nicks,thats one thing, or are batteries exploding due to unsafe habits and practices? I think it makes a big difference. Especially when an outside source is trying very very very hard to unionize the workforce.

Pfft. You know what this is? More union. That's what is going on.

Run, Tesla employees!

a reply to: Woodcarver



Perhaps, do you have anything other than conjecture?

Perhaps a source?

a reply to: seasonal

It takes years--or it did when my father worked in a GM foundry--for a plant to get the system operation efficiently and safely. Unions are good and bad, good for general things but frequently fail in individual situations possibly because the local handlers of those situations are only workers themselves.

Anyway, the union will have a driving wedge here over this safety issue, they'll milk it and you can't blame them.
OSHA is asleep on this?

a reply to: Aliensun

Tesla was founded in 2003.

I am a teamster from a short job @ coke. The job I left coke for paid the same-benefits-pension. Then 3 yrs after I took the job, the co decided to do away with pensions, and gave us 401k's. Huge savings to the company, gambling for the employees. Wish the workers had a say....

Tesla is a huge recipient of tax subs. Maybe the fines are too small from OSHA.

It is more than likely a combo of mandatory OT, unrealistic production goals and poorly designed lines to manufacture cars.

originally posted by: Woodcarver
a reply to: seasonal

This is literally the only MO that these unions know. They are not beyond planting employees who will happily (payed) bolster the amount of incidents reported. I would like to see all of the injury reports myself and make a conclusion based on the seriousness of the injuries. If there are a few more splinters and razorknife nicks,thats one thing, or are batteries exploding due to unsafe habits and practices? I think it makes a big difference. Especially when an outside source is trying very very very hard to unionize the workforce.

This is just PR propaganda by the union surrogates to try to influence public opinion to bolster their case for having Tesla unionize. Without seeing the actual injury reports or any other real granular statistics, I can't take this at face value.

a reply to: Edumakated

Sounds like you already have your mind made up.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: Aliensun

Tesla was founded in 2003.

I am a teamster from a short job @ coke. The job I left coke for paid the same-benefits-pension. Then 3 yrs after I took the job, the co decided to do away with pensions, and gave us 401k's. Huge savings to the company, gambling for the employees. Wish the workers had a say....

Tesla is a huge recipient of tax subs. Maybe the fines are too small from OSHA.

It is more than likely a combo of mandatory OT, unrealistic production goals and poorly designed lines to manufacture cars.

Their first Tesla had was produced in very low volumes. It was a two seater sports car based on the Lotus Elise chasis retro fitted with batteries. It wasn't until 2012 when they released the Model S that the general public really knew anything about Tesla and they had any kind of significant volume.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: Edumakated

Sounds like you already have your mind made up.

Not really, but I see it for what it is... The UAW has been very vocal about getting Tesla to unionize. Sponsoring "studies" and general propaganda is part of their strategy to gin up public support for unionization.

a reply to: Edumakated

Those are not reasons, those are excuses.

originally posted by: Edumakated

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: Edumakated

Sounds like you already have your mind made up.

Not really, but I see it for what it is... The UAW has been very vocal about getting Tesla to unionize. Sponsoring "studies" and general propaganda is part of their strategy to gin up public support for unionization.

Proof that I should stand by my comment.

originally posted by: seasonal

originally posted by: Edumakated

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: Edumakated

Sounds like you already have your mind made up.

Not really, but I see it for what it is... The UAW has been very vocal about getting Tesla to unionize. Sponsoring "studies" and general propaganda is part of their strategy to gin up public support for unionization.

Proof that I should stand by my comment.

All you have to do is go to the website of Worksafe which is the non-profit the group that published the study to get a feel for what they are trying to accomplish. They tell you right on the website they are looking for "justice" for workers. Any organization that says they are looking for "justice" usually means it is a left wing front group.

I see this stuff all the time for what it is. These organizations get created to push an agenda by releasing and spinning data to support their ideology. I work in finance and there are non-profit groups who use the same strategy to influence lending regulations.

Look, I am not saying Tesla is perfect. They very well may need to work on their manufacturing processes. However, I tend to look at all this critically because I have seen how it is used to push other agendas.

a reply to: Edumakated

Using the verbiage of the day is silly.

The workers that are being hurt for what ever reason is only going to increase as the company demands more. Tesla seems to need some help on how to make a safe work place.
And when the lawsuits start to roll in from injured employees, and what appears to be a chronic safety problem they will get justice. And in that case, justice is the correct word usage.

Not surprising really for techy libertarians. Don't believe in any regulation - the magic market will work out all the kinks.