LORDSTOWN, Ohio — Ultium Cells LLC, the joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution in Lordstown, is facing over $270,000 in penalties from the U.S. Department of Labor for health and safety violations.
According to the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), investigators examining the cause of a March 2023 explosion and fire found 19 health and safety violations after four separate inspections in less than two weeks.
OSHA inspectors found the company exposed workers to machine and chemical hazards by failing to use and train workers on safety and emergency response procedures. The agency also learned Ultium Cells did not comply with federally required safety standards for the use of personal protective equipment, including respirators.
Here were the specific safety measures that OSHA says Ultium Cells failed to execute:
- Periodically test energy control procedures for various equipment.
- Install required machine guarding.
- Train workers in hazardous energy control procedures.
- Provide safe access and egress for packing employees, who were exposed to trip and fall hazards.
- Train workers in emergency response operations, including the release of hazardous N-Methylpyrrolidone.
- Coordinate emergency responses with an incident response system.
- Provide respiratory protection from exposure to hazardous chemicals that can cause numbness, dizziness and nausea.
- Train workers on the physical and health risks of hazardous chemicals used in the workplace.
- Provide safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals.
- Store chemicals in labeled containers.
- Select appropriate personal protective equipment and provide training on the use of PPE for potential exposure to chemical hazards, such as electrolyte and dried coating material.
- Provide eye wash stations, emergency showers and hand protection.
- Inform employees of their right to report workplace injuries and illnesses.
- Allow an employee to freely report an injury
The inspections took place between April 24 and May 5, 2023, at the plant.
OSHA has proposed $270,091 in penalties and issued the company a hazard alert letter asking them to voluntarily reduce accumulations of metal dust and protect employees from unsafe metal dust exposure.
Ultium Cells’ technology and advanced manufacturing facilities are part of a new and emerging field but workplace safety standards — such as machine guarding, personal protective equipment and emergency response training — have been the law for decades,” said OSHA Cleveland Area Director Howard Eberts in a statement. “The company’s focus on the future must include an emphasis on workplace safety to ensure the well-being of its employees.”
You can read OSHA's letter to Ultium Cells LLC laying out all of the violations below.
Since Ultium began battery cell production in Northeast Ohio in August 2022, OSHA says it has cited the plant 11 times. OSHA adds that it has one open inspection at the facility following a June 2023 fire, plus three inquiries, including a report that the company exposed workers to airborne chemicals in the cathode mixing area after a pressure gauge failed on Aug. 20, 2023, resulting in battery slurry leaking onto the plant floor.
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