SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health said Apr. 18 that it had
opened an investigation of safety conditions at the Tesla auto plant in Fremont. The announcement came two days after the Center for Investigative Reporting’s Reveal news site reported that Tesla “failed to report some of its serious injuries on legally mandated reports, making the company’s injury numbers look better than they actually are” and that it often did not put up yellow safety warnings because CEO Elon Mark “does not like the color yellow.” Erika Monterroza, a spokesperson for the state’s industrial relations department, told Bloomberg News that state OSHA inspections typically include a review of employers’ “Log 300” records of injuries and illnesses, to ensure that they are reporting serious injuries within eight hours, as required by law. Tesla called the Reveal story “an ideologically motivated attack by an extremist organization working directly with union supporters to create a calculated disinformation campaign.” “They’re still 100 percent just about production,” Dennis Duran, a Tesla paint-shop worker who supports the United Auto Workers’ organizing campaign, told Bloomberg. “I don’t see that priority with health and safety.” Read more
