EV maker Rivian’s Regular, Illinois manufacturing facility has racked up 16 preliminary severe violations in 21 months from the Occupational Security and Well being Administration (OSHA), as reported by Bloomberg. Among the accidents employees suffered embrace an amputated finger, vomiting “Rivian blue” bile after portray with out safety, a cracked cranium and a extreme again laceration. The EV maker solely operates a single manufacturing facility. Nonetheless, within the span of 21 months, it has accrued extra violations than bigger automakers like Honda, Volvo, and Ford.
These aren’t the one accidents, both. There are various different accidents that employees have allegedly by no means reported. Of observe is Addison Zwanzig’s case, as she was ordered to color autos with out a respirator. She skilled vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness and extra inside weeks and vomited the blue bile talked about above. Solely then was she offered a respirator, together with colleagues who had been by no means issued one beforehand.
““The protection of everybody at Rivian is our high precedence. We’re frequently bettering our processes and haven’t acquired any severe citations this yr. It’s extremely disappointing to see how Bloomberg has misrepresented the details on this story,” a Rivian spokesperson instructed Engadget. “It’s extremely disappointing to see how Bloomberg has misrepresented the details on this story. Since January 2023, Rivian has acquired two severe OSHA citations. Preliminary citations shouldn’t be confused as remaining citations, and to recommend in any other case is extremely deceptive.”
Individually, Rivian instructed Bloomberg it gives workers with all obligatory security gear. Staff can even strategy supervisors with considerations or report them incognito. Whereas Rivian’s security and processes have improved since 2021, these current accidents stay alarming.
Rivian has halted its plans to construct its R2 SUV in Georgia, opting to construct them within the Regular, Illinois plant as an alternative. Regardless of these harm reviews, the EV maker continues to be attempting to rent extra workers. Nonetheless, with the OSHA respiration down its neck, the corporate might must work even tougher on defending its employees, particularly when the corporate is hesitant on permitting workers to unionize.
Correction 10/24 10:45AM ET: A earlier model of this text incorrectly said Rivian “canned” its plans to construct a brand new plant in Georgia. We have additionally up to date the language within the first sentence to mirror that a few of security violations had been initially deemed severe by OSHA. The company later up to date 14 of them to categorise them as “Different Than Critical.”
Replace 10/23 1:57PM ET: Added remark from Rivian.
