Questions over Tesla factory safety

Ambulances have been called to a Tesla factory more than 100 times to treat workers since it opened in 2014.

Employees at the Californian factory have suffered from fainting spells, dizziness, seizures, abnormal breathing and chest pains, according to incident reports obtained by The Guardian.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk says he cares about the health and well-being of his employees, but admits some of them have had “a hard time, working long hours, and on hard jobs”.

The factory’s safety record has significantly improved over the last year, he says.

However, The Guardian reports Musk’s account of the company’s approach differs from that of the 15 current and former factory workers, who talk about aggressive production schedules that come from the top.

“I’ve seen people pass out, hit the floor like a pancake and smash their face open,” says Jonathan Galescu, a production technician at Tesla.

“They just send us to work around him while he’s still lying on the floor.”

Mikey Catura, a worker on the battery pack line, also outlined his experiences at the factory.

“We had an associate on my line, he just kept working, kept working, kept working, next thing you know – he just fell on the ground.”

However, Tesla workers also spoke about the pride they got working from the company.

Before the company reduced the average time of a workday in October 2016, workers said they routinely worked 12-hour shifts, six days a week, The Guardian

reports.

A Tesla spokesperson added that in a factory of more than 10,000 employees, “there will always be isolated incidents that we would like to avoid”.

“While some amount of injuries is inevitable, our goal at Tesla is to have as close to zero injuries as possible and to become the safest factory in the auto industry worldwide.”