Tesla contests fines over worker's serious injury on conveyor belt

Tesla has been cited by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health for four safety violations after an employee was seriously injured when she got stuck in a Model Y at the company’s Fremont factory earlier this year.

The EV maker failed to ensure power was cut to a conveyor belt while workers were performing quality inspections, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg through a California Public Records Act request. As a result, in April, the worker became trapped in a car after its open door struck a fixed vertical gate at Tesla’s Fremont plant, according to the documents.

California OSHA proposed fining Tesla $18,000 for the “serious” violation, which the regulator said the carmaker addressed during an inspection at some point between April and October. The company also received another $18,000 fine for failing to maintain an effective injury and illness prevention program, while it received two other $1,000 fines for “general” violations at the plant.

The report comes as the United Auto Workers, fresh off contract wins with the major Detroit automakers, has Tesla in its crosshairs. It’s trying to gain support among the company’s California workers, and employees at other non-unionized factories. One of the UAW’s key talking points in the past has been the group’s ability to push for safer working conditions.