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US electric car manufacturer Tesla is again in the headlines for the wrong reasons – the company's factory in California is now being investigated, following media accusations that serious workplace injuries are being covered up.
The company has come under intense pressure in 2018, as it struggles to boost production of its Model 3 vehicle, with Tesla stopping its factory line earlier this week.
Tesla's factory in Fremont, California
The carmaker has already seen its credit rating downgraded this year after repeatedly failing to meet weekly production targets of 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week.
Tesla's share price has plummeted by almost 15 percent since the end of February, with the company blaming issues in its supply chain. Production has been halted twice so far this year, with the company saying each time it was upgrading equipment at its factory in Fremont.
An investigation by Reveal released earlier this week found that Tesla failed to report a number of serious workplace injuries, with workers reportedly "sliced by machinery, crushed by forklifts, burned in electrical explosions and sprayed with molten metal."
One former employee told Reveal that she warned managers that "the risk of injury is too high. People are getting hurt every day and near-hit incidents where people are getting almost crushed or hit by cars are unacceptable."
California's Occupational Safety and Health Administration confirmed on Thursday that Tesla has been under investigation since Tuesday, following Reveal's report.
Production of Tesla's Model 3 has been beset by problems since its launch in July 2017.
Tesla, which is worth around 50 billion US dollars and has approximately 10,000 staff worldwide, claimed in official reports that its total injury rate and serious injury rate dropped sharply between 2016 and 2017. Reveal's investigation claims that serious injuries at Tesla's Fremont factory were recorded as "personal medical issues" or "minor incidents," in an alleged cover-up of what was described as "a chaotic factory floor where style and speed trumped safety."
A spokesperson for Tesla confirmed the company was being probed, adding "we have never in the entire history of our company received a violation for inaccurate or incomplete injury record-keeping."
(CGTN)
