- Workers at Rivian’s Normal, IL, plant have reportedly suffered a catalog of injuries and health issues.
- The automaker has received more initial citations for serious health violations from the US government than other brands.
- One employee suffered a cracked skull, another had a finger amputated and yet another required back surgery for a laceration, the report says.
Rivian’s electric vehicles are some of the most advanced on the road, but the automaker lags behind other brands when it comes to protecting the workers who build those EVs, a new report claims.
Some of Rivian’s employees have suffered a cracked skull, had a finger amputated, or required surgery due to incidents at work. Others say they feel pressured to keep the production line moving at all costs.
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The report comes from Bloomberg, whose investigation led it to speak to multiple current and former employees about life at Rivian’s Normal plant and to analyze data from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) comparing Rivian with other brands.
Despite only having a single plant, the company behind the critically acclaimed R1S, R1T, and Amazon’s delivery van has more black marks on its safety record than other brands with multiple sites. OSHA has handed Rivian 16 initial serious violations in the past 21 months, which sounds a lot, but of course means nothing without some context, so here it is: neither Toyota, GM, Honda, Nissan, or Ford earned more than 10 slaps on the wrist in that time and VW, BMW, and Subaru received none at all.
Rivian responded to Bloomberg’s bringing up OSHA’s findings by claiming that most of the “serious” citations were subsequently downgraded or dismissed altogether. But former OSHA employees told the reporters that the organization often only downgraded citations to encourage automakers to make safety improvements and to avoid litigation. In short, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Dangers highlighted by workers included forklifts being used to push carts around the plant and a leaky roof over the part of the facility where batteries are stored. One former employee even claimed she vomited Rivian blue liquid after being forced to work in the paint shop without adequate breathing gear. But a spokesperson told Bloomberg that it always provided all necessary safety equipment and said in a statement that it was “proud of our strong safety record – which continues to improve year over year.”
