Tesla, as the world-famous "star" of electric vehicles, has always attracted many engineers to apply for jobs.。But working at Tesla faces no small risk of work injury。Recently, some media broke that the engineers of Tesla's super factory had been "attacked" by the company's internal robots.。

Robots' attack 'on engineers at Tesla factory

The reported "attack" occurred in 2021, when an engineer at Tesla's Austin, Texas, plant had problems programming the software that controls manufacturing robots.。

According to two people who witnessed the incident, at the time, engineers were writing software to control the robot in the hope of controlling the robot to cut car parts on newly cast aluminum parts。At the time of the incident, two robots were in shutdown, but a third robot was inadvertently in operation after grabbing and moving auto parts。The robot then continued to move and inserted its claws into the engineer's back and arm。

After another worker pressed the emergency stop button, the engineer broke free of the robot's control and fell a few feet from a slide dedicated to collecting scrap aluminum, leaving a trail of blood behind him.。

For this "attack" incident, some netizens believe that the media's words are too exaggerated, describing the incident as an "uprising" of robots.。In response, Tesla CEO Musk agreed with the post on X, saying: "It is shameful for the media to dig up the damage caused two years ago by a simple industrial Kuka robot arm (all factories have) and suggest that Optimus is now causing it.。"

In his reply to netizens, Musk only defended his robot Optimus, but did not deny the accident.。

"One out of every 21 workers at Tesla plant has been injured."

The aforementioned "attack" on Tesla engineers took place at Tesla's Austin plant, which seems to be more dangerous to Tesla employees than other plants.。

Last year, nearly 1 in every 21 workers at the Austin plant was injured on the job, much higher than the rate of 1 in every 30 workers at similar plants (auto plants with 250 or more employees).。The injury rate at Tesla's Fremont plant is even higher, with one in 12 workers injured on the job last year.。

Sources said that the need for rapid production is an important factor leading to safety hazards at Tesla's plant。As Tesla's delivery data continues to hit new highs, higher demands are placed on the capacity of its multiple superplants。

In recent years, Tesla's production capacity has reached new highs year by year.。In the first three quarters of this year, Tesla produced 440,808, 479,700 and 430,488 vehicles, respectively.。Production in the first three quarters is already close to the sum of last year's full-year production, and there is no suspense that this year's full-year production exceeds last year's。In his third-quarter earnings call, Musk reiterated his goal of producing and delivering 1.8 million electric vehicles by 2023.。By the third quarter, Tesla had produced only about 1.35 million vehicles and delivered about 1.3 million vehicles.。In order to achieve the company's goals, Tesla's production and sales sides are actually under considerable pressure.。

In addition, fewer factory safety inspections are one of the reasons for the high incidence of worker injuries.。

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor's department responsible for workplace safety, will conduct only one inspection of Tesla's Austin plant each year for the two years 2021-2022.。In contrast, Tesla's Fremont, California plant will undergo nine safety inspections per year between 2021 and 2022, and has undergone four safety inspections so far in 2023.。

And Tesla was also found to have withheld the number of worker injuries。

According to a memo disclosed by the California Workplace Safety Agency in December, Tesla omitted hundreds of industrial accidents listed in the company's factory logs from the annual summary data sent to the government.。That same month, the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health ticketed Tesla for failing to properly log other injuries since 2015.。

The same was found at Tesla's Austin, Texas plant.。According to reports, Tesla has concealed the number of robot "attacks" on workers in the factory in the past year or two.。A lawyer representing workers at Tesla's factory recently revealed that the number of injuries within the company was underestimated.。