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OSHA Fines Don't Cost Enough To Stop Tesla From Injuring Its Workers

1
Bradley Brownell
·1 min read
Image: Tesla
Image: Tesla

The California Division of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has hit Tesla with a $36,000 fine for negligence in the case of an employee being “seriously injured” last April. The worker, a quality control specialist, was trapped in a Model Y when the assembly line lurched forward, hitting the open door on a post and slamming it shut. Tesla’s fine stems from a failure to ensure the power to the assembly line conveyor belt was turned off before the QC workers started their inspection. Two additional $1,000 fines were levied at the same time for smaller violations, including obstructions on the factory floor, and a failure to create written protocols for certain “hazardous energy” machinery.

But $36,000 isn’t enough of a fine for a company the size of Tesla. It has a market capitalization of $750.51 billion as of this writing. This isn’t the kind of fine that will have an effect on the world’s most valuable automaker, and will barely make mention in the company’s annual budget. Tesla has sent lawyers to OSHA offices in Sacramento as part of an effort to get the fines wiped away, however.

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There’s so little information about the injured worker from this spring, so all I can do is hope that they recovered, that their injuries don’t stick with them for life, and that the worker was compensated for all medical costs.

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