Three workers burned at Tesla plant

[Mother Muckraker]

24. Repetitive strain can be minimized but not eliminated - actual stats on the production floor.

The reason why your comparison is not valid is because those 2 types of injuries are completely different. One is due to repetition which can be minimized but not avoidable. The other injuries at Tesla are not repetitive in nature and have more to do with following proper safety procedures. What happened at Tesla IS avoidable.

NUMMI management and the union have done all they can to minimize those injuries. NUMMI had a full-time egonomic team that worked with workers and managers to minimize repetitive strain injuries. They had their own office right across from Medical.

Injury rates at auto assembly plants will always be high simply due to a person performing an operation over and over. When you torque down a bolt with an airgun once, it seems like no big deal, but what if you do it hundreds of thousands of times or even millions?

4 bolts to Corolla seat
500 Corollas per shift

That's 2000 times a day. Heavy vibration.

2000x5days= 10,000 per week

10,000/week x 52weeks/yr = 520,000 times a year

But you don't just bolt those 4 bolts. You have to bend over to reach the 2 bolts on the inside (near the middle of car) which is back intensive which amounts to 260,000 reps a year bending over.

Over the years, it amounts to millions of reps and when that happens, joints and cartilage WILL wear out and workers will eventually sustain an injury. In fact, EVERYONE will suffer an injury given enough time on the line.

Countermeasures has to do with rotating jobs so you stress a different part of your body, being transferred to an "easier" job like Quality Control (QC) or simply keep working & get injured, report the injury, go to Medical and get some time off from work to recover.

That's why with only 20,000 cars a year for Tesla, repetitive strain injuries are less likely. Also, the "stats" Ikonoclast quoted include ALL injuries and does not exclude repetitive strain.

There actually ways to greatly reduce repetitive strain, but big business with their drive for profits will not allow it and people are too ignorant of how things work to make it happen which is why repetitive strain can't practically be eliminated.

To Eliminate Injury (or greatly reduce):
Hire more workers - reducing the number of elements per car
Slow down the pace of the assembly-line - reduce # of times you perform an element.

Advocating either of those is considered heretical and you'll probably be targeted for firing by management.