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According to a recent safety data analysis, injury rates at SpaceX sites remained higher than the industry average in 2023. However, SpaceX’s data provided to US regulators reveals that some facilities reported even worse injury rates than the previous year.
As per a report by Reuters, SpaceX’s Brownsville, Texas facility, for example, saw 5.9 injuries per 100 workers, surpassing the 2022 rate of 4.8 injuries and well above the industry average of 0.8.
These findings come after a Reuters investigation uncovered over 600 unreported worker injuries in 2023, some resulting in severe consequences like crushed limbs, amputations, and one fatality.
Safety experts warn that these high injury rates should worry SpaceX’s clients, notably NASA, which has increasingly relied on SpaceX’s services, having paid the company billions for various contracts. The potential disruption to NASA’s operations is a cause for serious concern.
David Michaels, a former Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) administrator and current professor at George Washington University, emphasized that high injury rates can signal poor production quality and urged NASA to take note of the situation. However, NASA declined to comment on the matter.
Several experts have claimed that SpaceX has consistently been able to undercut NASA’s budget in launches because they can cut corners and risk failures in a way that NASA, being publically funded, cannot afford.
OSHA, the federal agency responsible for workplace safety, did not respond to questions about SpaceX’s injury rates. Reuters, using OSHA data, calculated the latest injury rates, revealing that SpaceX reported injuries from eight major facilities in 2023, three more than in the previous year.
One of the most alarming findings was at a SpaceX unit tasked with retrieving rocket boosters from the Pacific Ocean, which reported 7.6 injuries per 100 workers, significantly higher than the industry average.
Despite these concerning figures, neither SpaceX nor its CEO, Elon Musk, have publicly addressed the company’s safety record in detail. In a social media post, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s chief operating officer, reiterated the company’s commitment to safety, mentioning that astronaut and personnel safety remains their top priority.
As concerns persist regarding safety standards at SpaceX facilities, stakeholders continue to call for greater transparency and accountability. It is crucial to ensure the well-being of workers and the success of space missions.
