Zoox has halted autonomous vehicle testing in Atlanta after safety drivers may have been exposed to carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, or hydrogen sulfide inside its test vehicles last month. The repeated incidents prompted one worker to file a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which opened an inquiry and directed Zoox to investigate. As many as 40 workers may have been exposed, according to an OSHA letter to Zoox, though the Amazon-owned company puts the number lower.
Zoox returned at least one group of workers to the road in a different vehicle after one worker vomited and others reported symptoms, according to a contractor. That vehicle may also have contained potentially toxic gases, he said, because the workers experienced symptoms again later that day. Jay Davis, a contractor who became sick in mid-August, said he emailed human resources to object to being sent back into the field after reporting that workers were throwing up.
Workers reported symptoms and unusual smells through much of last month until August 22, when someone called 911 for a sick worker. The northwest Atlanta facility has run at limited capacity since then, with test vehicles quarantined during the investigation, according to two employees. Zoox's purpose-built robotaxis, which are electric, are not affected.
Exactly which gases were involved remains unclear. Davis said he and two other sick workers were told at an emergency room that their symptoms were consistent with carbon monoxide exposure, while the OSHA complaint mentions possible carbon dioxide exposure. Zoox told OSHA in a September 10 letter that it checked its test vehicles for carbon dioxide and replaced their 12-volt batteries, which can produce hydrogen sulfide gas when damaged, creating a rotten egg smell that some employees said they noticed. Zoox later told TechCrunch it found no battery damage and no signs of hydrogen sulfide.
Zoox told OSHA it identified 28 employees who rode in six test vehicles with an unexplained odor, and that 10 workers voluntarily underwent medical evaluation. The company said it received one medical report identifying carbon dioxide exposure, and told TechCrunch it has not identified carbon monoxide in its vehicles and that the only gas detected was carbon dioxide. Zoox said it will add carbon dioxide monitors capable of detecting other gases, and OSHA has closed its inquiry.
Zoox said the safety and well-being of its test fleet operators is its primary concern and that it has ceased operations of its test vehicles in the Atlanta market while it investigates and supports its operators. The company's test fleet uses modified Highlander SUVs with internal combustion engines, making it an outlier among major robotaxi developers including Waymo, Tesla, Avride, and Motional, which use electric vehicles. The illnesses come as Zoox expands into new cities and grows operations in places such as Las Vegas and San Francisco in a bid to catch market leader Waymo, growth that has put some safety monitors at risk.
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