Tesla has been fined $13,500 by California regulators for serious violations of workplace heat protection rules at its Fremont plant. The citation indicates that the company failed to provide adequate cooldown breaks for outdoor workers, potentially risking their health. Cal/OSHA's findings emphasize the importance of monitoring for heat illness symptoms and ensuring employees have the opportunity for shaded rest. This penalty is small relative to Tesla's $1 trillion valuation and underscores ongoing tensions between the company and state regulators, particularly around workplace safety.
Although the $13,500 penalty is a pittance for the electric car maker that boasts a market cap of more than $1 trillion, state regulators categorized the company's violation as 'serious,' meaning it could result in injury, illness or death.
The citation references a section of California's heat safety rules that mandate that employees be allowed and encouraged to take cooldown rests in the shade when they feel the need to do so to prevent themselves from overheating.
An investigation by The Center for Investigative Reporting in 2018 found that Tesla has failed to report some serious workplace injuries, skewing the company's injury statistics.
Elon Musk has had a hostile relationship with the state in recent years, accusing California of 'overregulation, overlitigation, overtaxation.'
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