Jenny Houlroyd is the Occupational Health group manager of the Safety, Health, and Environmental Services (SHES) program, which is part of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. Here Houlroyd lays out some essential safety and health precautions associated with electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing. Vehicles classified as EV can be powered by electric motor, draw electricity from a battery, and are charged from an external source. Georgia is a leader in the EV manufacturing sector, with the state announcing more than $27.3 billion in e-mobility investments since 2018.
What are some of the safety concerns in EV manufacturing?
EV manufacturing introduces a variety of not only the typical safety hazards – like trips, falls, and electrical hazards – but also chemical hazards associated with the battery manufacturing process. The metals involved can cause allergic reactions, respiratory health issues, and some are classified as carcinogens. In addition to the classic industrial hygiene issues, there is also the physical hazard of the lithium-ion batteries, because if they catch on fire, they can produce toxic gases.
How can those factors be mitigated?
As these types of manufacturing elements are introduced into workplaces, site safety and health professionals will need additional training and education to be prepared to respond and prevent injuries and illnesses.
Additionally, first responders in neighboring communities will have to be prepared, because responding to events at these manufacturing plants will be inherently different than at a typical manufacturing plant. The resources necessary to, say, put out an EV battery fire may be much more profound than for a small fire in a classic manufacturing plant.
So in addition to safety on a factory level, communities need to have infrastructure in place as well?
Correct, and it’s incumbent on these large-scale manufacturing plants to have internal first responders that are capable to do intermediary response while waiting for first responders to get onsite. Treating a chemical burn from this type of operation would be different than a burn from a typical manufacturing plant. You’d have to be prepared to respond in a variety of different ways.
What are some basic safety strategies that can be put into place?
One would be designing the factory in a way so that there is adequate ventilation to control any exposure to the metal dust; nickel is one of the metals that’s particularly hazardous in this work environment.
Then you’d need to have the fire safety measures to put out an EV fire if one happens in the workplace, as well as the appropriate amount of eyewash stations and showers to respond to any injuries for employees. Also important is making sure that employees have appropriate respiratory protection and clothing for that unique environment.
I can’t stress enough that the EV industry is a whole new area for us in health and safety. It’s kind of niche, and it’s very much an area where health and safety overlap. We as professionals must be open and eager to learn more about the preventative measures for these hazards. I don’t know that the people living in the communities surrounding these factories really understand the hazards that are present. If they’re going to get jobs there, do they understand those hazards?
What are some of the concerns for people in the communities who might not necessarily be working at those facilities?
I think the primary concern would be for any workers who potentially might be exposed on the job. A secondary factor would be if there were a catastrophic fire at one of these factories. How would it impact the surrounding areas?
It takes thousands and thousands of gallons to put some of these lithium-ion battery fires out. An EV fire can burn up to 5000 degrees Fahrenheit and could take 10,000 gallons of water to put it out. A regular car fire is only about 1500 degrees and takes about 2000 gallons.
The Hyundai Metasite is what’s known as a giga factory. What does that mean and do those facilities have different concerns?
A giga factory is basically like a city that’s operating for the sole function of manufacturing a specific product line, and they use the term giga factory because of the sheer size.
In my past life, I worked as a subcontractor for a federal agency that had several hundred acres and several hundred buildings. Whenever you’re responsible for such a large physical location, you need to start thinking of all the resources that would normally be provided by a city or a state that you need to start accounting for, because the space that you’re occupying is so large – the fire department being the primary one.
The other thing is, when you need to have external responders come in, like EMTs, do they know where to find you or to find the location where something has happened? If you have a really large factory and you have a safety person, how long will it take them to get to that injury? Are you going to have golf carts to get around? Are you going to have bikes to get around? How will you get physically from one side to the other, and how are you going to connect the people in those different locations with the resources they need?
Part of the challenge with giga factories is just the sheer size and the sheer volume. It’s crucial to make sure there are plans in place, from the basic questions like if there are enough eyewash stations to developing the appropriate mechanisms to protect workers.
Framing it as being like a city is really helpful, because it gets people thinking, “If this were an actual city, what would it need?”
Yes. That’s why our EI2 counterparts in economic development are so important, because health is not just keeping the workers safe when they’re on the job. It’s also providing adequate grocery stores for shopping and adequate childcare services.
Are there enough pediatricians to treat the kids in that area? And are there enough doctors to respond in general? Is there an emergency room nearby? What if there is a catastrophic event and people need surgery?
My doctorate is in public health, and we would discuss how if you’re going build a giga factory and you need all the things that a city needs, who’s responsible for that?
We need to be making sure we’re not just asking questions like, “How much water would we need to respond to an event or a fire at the plant, and is there adequate fire suppression?” But also asking questions about the health and safety of the broader community, such as, “Is the county health department in that area adequately staffed to respond to the changing population dynamics and public health needs?”
As a public health professional, I’m trained to ask, “What is the well-being of these workers if they don’t have access to the life resources they need? Is it enough to just get the financial resources of a salary?”
What are other ways EV manufacturers can prepare?
There are some negative examples out there. There is a battery plant up in Commerce, Georgia, which has been inspected multiple times by OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration), and the citations highlight the hazards that exist in the plants and verify things I’ve said.
Based on publicly available OSHA citations, they did not have or train people to be emergency responders onsite or have the appropriate fire brigade that would be necessary based on the hazards. They were cited for not having trained the workers about the hazards that they’ve been exposed to and not providing their workers with respiratory protection.
I think the learning point here is that we’re being told exactly how to prepare for the next plants that are being built, and what hazards really need to be identified. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could do that preventively, so that we not only avoid the bad publicity and press from these OSHA inspections, but also protect the workforce?
How can we be proactive?
As economic development seeks to grow and expand manufacturing in the state of Georgia, it’s important for safety and health professionals to have a seat at the table to identify and bring attention to potential risks. This is not so that we can prevent these industries from coming to our state, but so we can better prepare our state and our workers to be healthy and safe once these jobs do come.