Tesla faces labour investigation after accusations of under-reporting of injuries

Investigation has alleged Tesla underreported injuries

Tesla vehicles are being assembled by robots at Tesla Motors Inc factory in Fremont, California (REUTERS/Joseph White)

California’s workplace safety regulator is investigating electric car manufacturer Tesla, which faces allegations of underreporting injuries.

Investigative news outlet Reveal reported this week that the company ignored safety concerns and downplayed the severity of injuries at its factory in Fremont, California, artificially suppressing its stated rate of accidents. The story cited former employees and safety managers.

While a California Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokesperson would not confirm whether the inquiry was spurred by the Reveal investigation, she said in an email that the agency “takes seriously reports of workplace hazards and allegations of employers’ underreporting recordable work-related injuries and illnesses”.

“While we do not disclose details of open inspections, Cal/OSHA’s inspections typically include a review of the employer’s Log 300”, in which businesses are required to record serious injuries or illnesses, “as well as a review to ensure that serious injuries are reported directly to Cal/OSHA within eight hours as required by law”, spokeswoman Erika Monterroza said.

Asked about the state investigation, a Tesla spokesman said its injury rate was half what it was for the company's predecessors in the Fremont factory and noted that “Cal-OSHA is required to investigate any claims that are made, regardless of whether they have merit or are baseless (as we believe these are)”.

Tesla had earlier issued a lengthy blog post deriding Reveal’s story as “an ideologically motivated attack by an extremist organisation working directly with union supporters”, saying the company “would never intentionally misrepresent our safety record to our employees or the public”.

Multiple Silicon Valley titans have faced intensifying scrutiny over their labour practices. A wave of lawsuits have alleged racial and gender-based discrimination at major technology firms, and ride-hailing service Uber last month agreed to a $10m (£7m) settlement in a class action lawsuit claiming the company’s compensation system was discriminatory.

The US Department of Labor last year sued Google to gain more access to internal compensation data (a judge later sided with Google in limiting how much information the company had to provide).