“As an employer, we care about the safety of our employees,” Toyota’s head of HR, Annika Dörner, told Dagens Arbete.

“Based on the information we have received from Northvolt in Skellefteå, we as an employer have decided to carry out as little service and maintenance on site as possible.”

In the past six months, three men working at Northvolt passed away at home following shifts at the factory. Swedish police launched an investigation into the deaths this week to find out whether they’re just a coincidence, or whether the people in question may have been exposed to something while working.

• Northvolt mystery deaths: Swedish police investigate why three men died

Toyota’s technicians will carry out service work from the company’s own base in Skellefteå, Dörner said, while awaiting the results of the police investigation.

In a comment to Dagens Arbete, Mikael Stenmark, chief safety representative for metalworkers’ union IF Metall, criticised Toyota for pausing work on site.

“In this case Toyota has halted work without knowing if there’s a clear danger to life or health, and without knowing if there’s a risk. We can’t have a situation where companies react to rumours. We need to base these things on facts,” he told the newspaper.

“The consequence of this is that no one takes it seriously when it actually is dangerous.”