An explosion inside the Northvolt mega-factory in Skellefteå, Sweden, left one seriously injured a month ago, but the Swedish company assures Newspaper have “a strong health and safety culture”.
“On November 4, a waste collector exploded inside a Northvolt Ett building, seriously injuring an employee. He was quickly transported to hospital to receive treatment, where he is still being treated,” confirmed to Newspaper Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau, spokesperson for Northvolt.
The Northvolt Ett megafactory is the company’s first in Europe. Active cathode materials and cells are manufactured there and recycling is also carried out on a large scale. The site has an area of 71 football fields. More than 2,000 employees operate the 60 GWH mega-factory.
Northvolt aims to build a similar mega-factory in Quebec. The Legault government has committed to providing nearly $1.4 billion in aid of all kinds to Northvolt and up to $1.5 billion in incentives depending on the progress of production.
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Unknown cause
The cause of the incident in early November is still unknown. Northvolt is awaiting the conclusions of a report and says it is working on a plan to resume operations.
“Battery manufacturing includes the handling of hazardous products. In this context, Northvolt builds its factories with multiple layers of security and fire suppression systems,” explained Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau.
At Newspapershe assures that Northvolt has “a strong culture in terms of health and safety with compulsory training which meets Swedish and European standards”.
The Northvolt Quebec factory will not skimp on health and safety, we assure.