Injuries caused by burns, hydrochloric acid or amputated limbs: Previously unknown documents from authorities and emergency services show that there were a particularly high number of work accidents at the car manufacturer Tesla in Brandenburg.
In the factory of the American car manufacturer Tesla in Grünheide, Brandenburg, a striking number of work accidents occur, including serious and extremely serious accidents. That’s what he reports star citing previously unknown documents from authorities and emergency services.
According to the magazine’s research, a file note from the State Office for Occupational Safety and Health shows that accidents occurred on the factory premises almost daily over a long period of time. Between June and November 2022 alone, Tesla reported at least 190 reportable accidents. In Germany, all accidents at work after which employees are unable to work for at least three days must be reported.
“This frequency of work accidents is not normal”
Again star Further reported, documents from the rescue centers also document that Musk’s factory requested an ambulance or helicopter 247 times in the first year after opening. Converted to the number of employees, this is three times as many emergencies – over a similar period of time – as in Audi’s factory in Ingolstadt, for example. The rescue reports show, among other things, that a wooden box weighing 50 kilograms fell on an employee’s head from a height of several meters or that an employee broke his foot into a dosing oven with red-hot aluminum. The rescuers also listed injuries caused by burns, hydrochloric acid or amputated limbs.
The district manager of IG Metall for Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony, Dirk Schulze, said this star: “This frequency of work accidents is not normal”. Rather, it is several times what is usual in other automobile companies. “My biggest concern is that someone will die at some point.” According to the report, Tesla itself did not comment on the documents or on allegations from employees and labor lawyers. Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) told the magazine that accidents happened almost every day at the plant and were “not unknown” to him. But he is “not the spokesman for Tesla”.
You can read the entire research into the violations at the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide here.
This article appears as part of a large research project by stern on the Tesla factory in Grünheide. The entire research and author team: Emin Aiche, Valeria Bajaña Bilbao, Christian Esser, Moritz Dickentmann, Ivy Haase, Manka Heise, Isa von Heyl, Tina Kaiser, Karolina Kaltschnee, Lucie Kieschke, Kristofer Koch, Birte Meier, Marc Neller, Kristina Ratsch , Kim Lucia Ruoff. Fact check: Quality Board from stern and Geo
More about Tesla: This Thursday at 10:35 p.m. the new television magazine “stern Investigativ.” starts on RTL, which you can then also access on RTL+. On the same evening he presents star for the first time the serial “stern Investigativ.” podcast — on RTL+ and stern.de as well as everywhere where podcasts are available.
Source: Stern