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Most people look at Tesla and think it must be the best place to work right now. And if you're a very highly skilled technician that every company in the business would be glad to have, that's probably right.
For the average worker, though, Tesla's Freemont plant is just like any other. Except they're not unionized and, if Tesla has its way, apparently, they never will be. But that's an entirely different story.
A new report released by Worksafe shows an alarming situation among the company's factory in California. By analyzing the records of the U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the organization found that the injury rates for Tesla's assembly plant were way higher than the industry average.
The peak value was registered in 2015 when injury rates were 31 percent higher than average, with 8.8 injuries per 100 full-time workers, compared to the 6.7 for the rest of the carmaking industry.
Equally worrying was that the rate of serious injuries - "those that result in days away from work, restricted duty, or job transfer," as defined by WorkSafe - during the same year was more than double than the industry average. The Freemont plant had a 7.9 severe injury incidence for 100 workers, as opposed to the 3.9 average.
The worst part, however, is that unless the rates have inexplicably gone up for the rest of the carmakers as well, 2016 looks like it's going to be just as bad. The overall numbers for the industry are not available at the moment, but Tesla's record shows a rate of 8.1 injuries, which is slightly lower than before, but still way above the norm.
Asked to comment, this is what a Tesla spokesperson told The Verge: “We may have had some challenges in the past as we were learning how to become a car company, but what matters is the future and with the changes we’ve made, we now have the lowest injury rate in the industry by far. Our goal is to have as close to zero injuries as humanly possible and to become the safest factory in the auto industry.”
A post on Tesla's blog claimed that injury rates have dropped to 4.6 per 100 workers during the first quarter of 2017, which would suggest the company is on its way to achieving the goal stated above. However, WorkSafe says it's still too early to celebrate and that the number isn't based on solid data, as there is none available at the moment.
A new report released by Worksafe shows an alarming situation among the company's factory in California. By analyzing the records of the U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the organization found that the injury rates for Tesla's assembly plant were way higher than the industry average.
The peak value was registered in 2015 when injury rates were 31 percent higher than average, with 8.8 injuries per 100 full-time workers, compared to the 6.7 for the rest of the carmaking industry.
Equally worrying was that the rate of serious injuries - "those that result in days away from work, restricted duty, or job transfer," as defined by WorkSafe - during the same year was more than double than the industry average. The Freemont plant had a 7.9 severe injury incidence for 100 workers, as opposed to the 3.9 average.
The worst part, however, is that unless the rates have inexplicably gone up for the rest of the carmakers as well, 2016 looks like it's going to be just as bad. The overall numbers for the industry are not available at the moment, but Tesla's record shows a rate of 8.1 injuries, which is slightly lower than before, but still way above the norm.
Asked to comment, this is what a Tesla spokesperson told The Verge: “We may have had some challenges in the past as we were learning how to become a car company, but what matters is the future and with the changes we’ve made, we now have the lowest injury rate in the industry by far. Our goal is to have as close to zero injuries as humanly possible and to become the safest factory in the auto industry.”
A post on Tesla's blog claimed that injury rates have dropped to 4.6 per 100 workers during the first quarter of 2017, which would suggest the company is on its way to achieving the goal stated above. However, WorkSafe says it's still too early to celebrate and that the number isn't based on solid data, as there is none available at the moment.
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