Federal regulators have cited Tesla TSLA.O for violating office security guidelines in reference to the electrocution of a employee final summer season at its Austin, Texas, auto-manufacturing plant.
The U.S. Division of Labor confirmed the findings in a press release to Reuters.
“The investigation is closed and citations have been issued,” mentioned the division, which oversees the company that carried out the Tesla probe, the U.S. Occupational Security and Well being Administration.
The Labor Division mentioned the matter was concluded in late January. The division declined to reveal the character of Tesla’s workplace-safety failures or whether or not any penalties have been imposed.
The case has been intently watched amid public debate concerning the oversight of Tesla and different companies run by billionaire Elon Musk as he directs a radical overhaul of federal companies on behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Musk, who spent greater than $250 million to assist elect Trump, now steers the newly created Division of Authorities Effectivity, which goals to slash federal spending and staffing. Musk’s companies, together with Tesla and rocket-maker SpaceX, rely closely on authorities contracts, subsidies and insurance policies.
OSHA launched the investigation instantly after the August 1 loss of life of Victor Gomez Sr., an electrician working as a contractor on the Tesla plant in Texas, in line with OSHA information and a wrongful loss of life lawsuit filed in opposition to Tesla by Gomez’s household.
Gomez was killed whereas inspecting electrical panels on the web site, in line with the go well with. The lawsuit alleges negligence and argues that the panel was presupposed to be inactive however had already been powered up, leading to Gomez’s electrocution.
Musk and Tesla didn’t reply to a request for remark. Reuters couldn’t instantly entry courtroom filings by Tesla within the lawsuit.
On Wednesday, U.S. Consultant Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat whose congressional district consists of the Tesla plant, despatched a letter to the Labor Division urging that OSHA instantly launch the total outcomes of its investigation of Gomez’s loss of life. The letter mentioned {that a} refusal to launch public information on Tesla’s office security failures might increase questions on whether or not the company is giving Musk preferential remedy.
“People have a proper to know whether or not Tesla and its contractors put a person’s life in danger, and whether or not Tesla will comply with office security guidelines going ahead,” the letter learn.
The plant, a 10-million square-foot facility in Austin, Texas, is a producing hub for Tesla’s Mannequin Y autos and Cybertrucks.
OSHA information present Tesla was cited and fined about $7,000 for 2 different office security violations on the Texas plant final 12 months, each involving violations of guidelines to guard employees from chemical hazards. In 2022, the corporate additionally was hit with a pair of complaints claiming that it failed to deal with alleged workplace-safety and wage-law violations by subcontractors through the development of the ability.
(Extra reporting by Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco and Ned Parker in New York. Modifying by Brian Thevenot and Jason Szep.)
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