A Reuters investigation into unsafe working situations at SpaceX has uncovered greater than 600 accidents going again to 2014 that haven’t been publicly reported till now. Present and former staff cited within the report blame CEO Elon Musk’s aggressive deadlines and hatred of paperwork, alleging his purpose of getting people to Mars “as quick as potential” has led the corporate to chop corners and eschew correct protocols.
Harm charges at some SpaceX services are a lot greater than the business common of .8 accidents or diseases per 100 employees, Reuters discovered. At its Brownsville, Texas location, the 2022 damage charge was 4.8 per 100 employees. On the Hawthorne, California manufacturing facility, it was 1.8. In McGregor, Texas, the place the corporate conducts rocket exams, the damage charge was 2.7.
Staff have suffered damaged bones, lacerations, crushed fingers, burns, electrical shocks and severe head wounds — together with one which blinded Brownsville employee Florentino Rios in 2021 and one other that left worker Francisco Cabada in a coma since January 2022. At SpaceX’s McGregor web site, one employee, Lonnie LeBlanc, was killed in 2014 when wind knocked him off the trailer of an improperly loaded truck. But over time, SpaceX has solely paid meager fines on account of its security lapses. After LeBlanc’s demise, the corporate settled with OSHA for $7,000, in accordance with Reuters.
Reuters spoke to over two dozen present or former staff, in addition to others “with data of SpaceX security practices.” One SpaceX ex-manager advised Reuters that “employees care for their security themselves,” and others stated staff have been even advised to not put on bright-colored security gear as a result of Musk doesn’t prefer it. SpaceX has additionally repeatedly didn’t submit damage information to regulators for a lot of its historical past, in accordance with Reuters.
