EV’s Normal, Illinois factory EV’s Normal, Illinois factory collected the first 16 serious violations in 21 months from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as reported Bloomberg. Some of the injuries workers encountered include a severed finger, cleaning bile “Rivian blue” after painting without protection, a cracked skull and a sore back. An EV manufacturer uses only one factory. However, in a 21-month period, it has racked up more violations than major automakers like Honda, Volvo, and Ford.
This is not the only injury, either. There are many other injured workers who are said to have never reported. Noteworthy is the case of Addison Zwanzig, as he was ordered to paint cars without a respirator. He experienced vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness and more within weeks and purged the green bile mentioned above. It was only then that he was given a respirator, and his colleagues had never taken one before.
“The safety of everyone at Rivian is our top priority. We continue to improve our processes and have not received any critical citations this year. It is very disappointing to see Bloomberg’s misrepresentation of the facts in this matter,” said a Rivian spokesperson. Engadget. “It is very disappointing to see how Bloomberg misrepresents the facts in this matter. As of January 2023, Rivian has received two critical OSHA citations. The first citations should not be confused with the final citations, and to suggest otherwise is incredibly misleading.”
Separately, Rivian told Bloomberg provides workers with all necessary safety equipment. Employees can also talk to management about concerns or report them incognito. Although Rivian’s safety and procedures have improved since 2021, this latest injury remains alarming.
Rivian has halted plans to build its R2 SUV in Georgia, opting to build it at its Normal, Illinois plant instead. Despite these reports of injuries, the EV maker is still trying to hire more workers. However, with OSHA breathing down your neck, the company may have to work even harder to protect its workers, especially if the company is reluctant to allow workers to unionize.
Correction 10/24 10:45AM ET: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Rivian had “canned” its plans to build a new plant in Georgia. We also revised the language in the first sentence to reflect that some safety violations were initially considered more serious by OSHA. The agency later reviewed 14 of them to classify them as “Other Than Critical.”
Update 10/23 1:57PM ET: Added comment from Rivian.
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