given the scrutiny around Tesla, it’s interesting this story doesn’t seem to have come out sooner since this is a fairly novel workplace accident
Important context autotldr missed:
The incident happened when the engineer was programming the software that controls the robots, which cut car parts from aluminium, The Information reported.
Two of the robots were disabled, but a third was inadvertently left on. As it went through its normal motions, it caught the worker in its claws.
Yikes, that should be checked multiple times before someone gets close to the clawed aluminum cutting robot. Failure of process, I suspect.
Lock out procedure wasn’t followed properly. You’re supposed to check that equipment is in a safe state before you go into a dangerous area like that.
Yes but if for example management is pressuring employees to make repairs in X amount of time that causes them to have to rush, its the company’s fault. Similar to Norfolk Southern giving train engineers 45 seconds per train car to do safety inspections.
This is absolute nonsense. Every worker is and should be pressured and monitored to ensure they’re working efficiently. That doesn’t give them carte blanche to disregard safety protocols.
Every worker is and should be pressured and monitored to ensure they’re working efficiently. That doesn’t give them carte blanche to disregard safety protocols.
the latter will necessarily follow from the former in almost every situation, because “inefficient workers” often get fired or are led to believe they will be fired and they have to make up the difference in that perception somewhere. this is still the company’s fault
the latter will necessarily follow from the former in almost every situation
no, it will not and does not.
“over-stressing workers and pressing them to be as efficient as possible, causing them to cut corners with safety” is such a universal point of failure that it’s frequent in every modern industry and a contributing factor in a huge number of workplace incidents and industrial disasters. respectfully, you would have to actively ignore reality to hold the position you currently do, and if you think that’s the worker’s fault and not the company incentivizing them to do unsafe things to keep their jobs, i can really only describe you as a corporate apologist or bootlicker
Keyword in your statement is “over”.
the company incentivizing them to do unsafe things
I presume you have evidence that you’d like to present to back up the idea that this is indeed what’s happening? Or are we just assuming that’s what happened?
Trust me, they don’t want you to get hurt. It costs them a whole lot more than any perceived increase in productivity when you get hurt. I’ve worked at corps that were on my back all day long about safety, to an annoying degree, and it wasn’t out of genuine concern, I promise.
i can really only describe you as a corporate apologist or bootlicker
Well that’s incredibly rude and unnecessary. Is this how you treat everyone you have disagreements with?
Yes but sometimes an employer’s idea of efficiency and the real world do not line up. They won’t tell employees to disregard safety protocols or urinate in bottles explicitly. It becomes the only way for the employee to meet their quota and keep their job.
Almost one in 21 workers at Tesla’s Giga Texas factory was injured on the job in 2022, according to The Information, compared to the industry average of one in 30.
It’s almost like they have some systemic issue with safety and procedures or something…
Average is one in 30? Wild. The P&G plant near my house was at a few hundred days with no incidents recently. For Tesla to be doing even worse than 1/30 tho? Yikes
The Tesla factory in Germany has roughly 3 times as many reportable incidents as comparable factories.
Another way to look at it is that the average manufacturing worker has a safety incident every 30 years.
It could also be that they are better about reporting incidents than other employers. I’m also curious what they mean by “the industry” if they mean automotive manufacturers or manufacturing in general. I work at a plant that makes parts for heavy equipment, which is similar to automotive, but obviously not automotive. We’ve had 2 recordable incidents this year. One of which was due to someone not wearing their issued cut resistant gloves while handling metal scraps and then needing stitches. There wasn’t any reason for them not to wear their gloves except for laziness or complacency.
Over here in Aus we like to have a “as few maiming’s as possible” policy. You say laziness and complacency, I call it a national disregard for worker safety, an underfunded & toothless OSHA and union-busting, all caused by unchecked capitalistic greed.
But let’s get back to this particular incident. For a start, here’s an article from 2021 about a system to allow robotic arms (and others) to sense human presence and not cause injury to them. So what, Mr. Elon “Autopilot” Musk couldn’t have designed a similar system for his factory? Hah, no, he just doesn’t give a fuck. This article goes into it in more depth. The Fremont Tesla factory had an even higher 1 in 12 injury rate last year. Also, yeah nah, they failed to disclose dozens of injuries. And these two rates don’t account for them. Still don’t believe me? Here’s a paper comparing Tesla to the automotive industry average. It cites it’s source as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But you should absolutely congratulate your colleagues. Assuming there’s more than 41 of them, you did better than Tesla! 👏
CW: first four links contain fake gore
Occupational hazard. Doesn’t mean said engineer isn’t owed compensation though. On the contrary.
Considering the subject matter, perhaps the auto-TLDR bot has a conflict of interest!
Is this the same Tesla plant that has no caution stripes because Elon hates yellow and black? Or the one that violated EPA regulations? Not surprised in the slightest
Fun fact, back in 2018, Tesla factories have less safety signs and signals because Elon Musk hates yellow (so no safety tape telling people where not to stand) and cannot stand the beeping noise forklifts make when they reverse.
Source: https://revealnews.org/article/tesla-says-its-factory-is-safer-but-it-left-injuries-off-the-books/
Absolutely baffled how more people aren’t killed at Tesla factories, tbh.
This is kind of tangential, but white noise backup alarms are neat.
I’m an engineer who works in an industrial environment, and I regularly have to repair or reprogram hazardous equipment. Here are a few takeaways I got from the descriptions of the Tesla incident:
- Lockout/tagout was not being respected. If you don’t have a lock, yank the fuse and stick it in your pocket. But whatever you do, when working on a machine, you must maintain exclusive control so nobody activates it while you’re inside the approach boundary.
- Why was the engineer in the approach boundary for a “software update?” I feel like I’m missing some important context there.
- Where were the hazard indicators? A hazardous device needs sound or light indicators, so nobody forgets they left it plugged in.
- Where was the machine guarding? If it can kill you, entering the hazardous area should shut the machine off with or without LOTO. I’m partial to interlocked gates, but cordons and light curtains are popular for a reason.
- If the machine guarding was disabled, where were the observers? The last time I activated a machine with the light curtains overriden, I had three other engineers on standby, one at the E-Stop, one with a rescue hook, and one just to watch.
In addition, while some companies try to blame workwrs for recordable incidents, safety is always ultimately management’s responsibility. Safety controls or procedures missing? That’s management’s fault. Workers disabling safety controls out of malice or hubris? Managment is at fault for hiring them. Workers so overworked and tired they don’t notice mistakes while operating lethal equipment? Management. Workers having to choose between having a job and doing it safely? Management. Lack of safety culture? Management.
With power comes responsibility, and in modern corporations, management has all the power.
I worked IT for a machine shop a while back and one of the giant machines had a sign posted next to it :
“This machine has no brains, so use yours”
SORRY, I THOUGHT YOU WERE ELON MUSK. END STATEMENT.
This is what happens when you promote a robot to manager.
Why are we building robots with claws?? That seems like a bad idea.
When they grab you with their metal claws, you can’t break free. Because robots are strong, and they’re made of metal.
Was that Bender or Star Wars?
Part of the Star Wars Trek, not the Star Trek Wars.
Two of the robots were disabled, but a third was inadvertently left on.
I dunno what people expect Tesla to do about people that fail to follow safety protocols.
Give them time to do it safely and conditions that don’t lead to fatigue.
Pay them to care more?
…about their personal bodily injury? You have to pay people for that?
Yes. If someone is poor, they have to spend more energy in the day. It’s spent on stress, bad food, drugs (including alcohol), domestic problems, doing chores that could be solved with money, and at worst, working a second job or in the gig economy. Stressed, hungry, exhausted people sleeping on bad mattresses get worse sleep and stay tired.
And you CANNOT mind your safety to the proper degree if you’re exhausted. It’s not a question of wanting to, it’s a question of what’s physically possible.
🤖 I’m a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:
Click here to see the summary
The robot “pushed its claws” into the man’s body and drew blood from his back and arm, two witnesses told US technology website The Information.
After another worker hit the emergency stop button, the engineer managed to escape the robot’s grasp and fell down a chute designed to collect scrap metal, “leaving a trail of blood behind him”, one of the witnesses said.
The incident happened when the engineer was programming the software that controls the robots, which cut car parts from aluminium, The Information reported.
Read more from Sky News:Apple fears ‘irreparable harm’ after watch sale ban’Pints’ of wine to be sold in Britain for the first time
The Texas site has been Tesla’s global headquarters since 2021, when chief executive Elon Musk announced he was shifting the company’s home from California.
Musk’s SpaceX rocket company also has a launch site at the state’s southern tip, and he moved to Texas in 2020.
Saved 42% of original text.
How is it novel? Robots have been harming people since they were created.
