Worker Safety Crisis At Tesla: Explosions And Robot Injuries

Tesla is in trouble, as more workers report explosions, concussions, and robot injuries in its factories.

The company is focused on its Cybercrook production, as it prepares to deliver them to the customers, but a recent report by The Information shows that Musk’s urge to deliver them on time has cost the safety of his employees.

According to The Verge, one out of every 21 workers were reportedly hurt in 2022 at the Gigafactory in Austin. One worker reported that a robot arm pinned him to the wall. A witness said that the worker bled from his back and arms and freed himself after someone hit the emergency button. The robot arm was supposed to be shut down.

A recent incident left at least one worker concussed after an explosion in the metal casting area launched him back. The explosion would be caused by water inadvertently mixing into the molten aluminum press machine. A worker said that the molding machine didn’t seal correctly and often spat molten metal. According to this person, if someone expressed concern or wanted to present a solution to fix the issue, their superiors would have said that shutting the machine down would have slowed the production.

These two incidents are part of a larger problem regarding security in Tesla’s facilities, as some workers in Austin expressed that the company had unsafe working conditions, an hardcore work culture, harassment and more. Tesla has also been criticized for underreporting injuries, so the actual number of people injured could be even larger.

Apparently, unsafe work conditions are not only a Tesla problem, but an overall issue when it comes to Elon Musk’s companies, as a recent report showed that over 600 workers got injured while working in SpaceX.