SpaceX covered up the death of one of its employees at a Texas factory for 9 years

2023-11-17 18:22:31

In June 2014, a 38-year-old SpaceX employee died in a workplace accident in Texas (United States). Sitting on a piece of foam insulation to hold him on a moving vehicle, he fell to his death. The accident was kept secret for… nine years, reveals an investigation Reuters relayed by Futurism.

According to findings from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the victim did not have the straps supposed to hold the foam during transport and therefore put his life in danger to compensate. Faced with this incident, SpaceX acknowledged a breach and agreed to implement new security measures.

Concussions and amputations

In addition to this fatal accident, Elon Musk’s company has also never reported 600 injuries occurring in its workplaces. Among them, 100 cuts, 29 fractures or dislocations or even 17 cases of crushed fingers or hands but also a skull fracture, head trauma, four concussions, eight accidents leading to amputations and seven eye injuries, lists Reuters.

Since 2016, SpaceX has not always reported the total number of annual injuries to OSGA, despite this being a legal requirement. Around 400 of the 600 cases revealed by Reuters allegedly occurred over the past seven years. The investigation also found serious failures related to employee safety, often due to the workplace or poorly trained or exhausted staff.

Security, not a priority for Elon Musk

The report points to a frantic and reckless pace of work desired by Elon Musk – like at Tesla. According to employees, the CEO believes that safety is the responsibility of workers. He even reportedly discouraged employees from wearing yellow safety jackets because he “doesn’t like bright colors.”

However, the American authorities have never taken any sanctions against the company, with the exception of small fines ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Jordan Barab, OSHA’s deputy secretary between 2009 and 2017, said “SpaceX should not be exempt from protecting workers from injury or death.”