SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives for a U.S. Senate bipartisan discussion board on synthetic intelligence on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13, 2023.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Photos
SpaceX staff have put their lives on the road to satisfy the aggressive tempo of labor that Chief Government Elon Musk has demanded in pursuit of a Mars mission, in response to a Reuters investigation.
The report documented over 600 beforehand undisclosed office accidents at SpaceX amenities since 2014, which Reuters stated are solely part of the entire quantity that isn’t publicly obtainable.
Reuters examined damage logs and public data from the corporate’s six largest amenities. SpaceX had not reported a lot of the damage knowledge beforehand, in violation of regulatory requirements. The investigation additionally included interviews with dozens of present and former SpaceX staff.
Among the many damage knowledge that Reuters gathered, over 100 staff skilled cuts or lacerations, 29 broke or dislocated bones, 17 had their palms and fingers crushed and 9 had some type of critical head damage.
The unsafe office setting is a results of Musk’s view that SpaceX is on the entrance strains of saving humanity from a deteriorating planet, staff informed Reuters. He has accelerated work deadlines, forcing staff to work lengthy hours at quick paces.
To expedite productiveness, staff additionally stated that SpaceX dodges “a certain quantity of purple tape.” In response to worker accounts from the investigation, senior SpaceX managers skirted security protocols and product testing. These shortcuts led to extreme accidents, together with staff struggling comas and generally, even loss of life.
The decline of office security at SpaceX and the accelerated pace of labor displays the rat race of the house {industry} at massive, the place SpaceX is often considered as the highest participant.
SpaceX, which makes rockets and operates Starlink, a satellite tv for pc web supplier, has skilled speedy progress. It’s at present valued at over $100 billion. Some count on the corporate to go public by 2027.
However as competitors within the {industry} grows fiercer, funding in house has shrunk over the previous yr. The industry-wide stress has change into a part of the explanation that corporations like SpaceX have put rising stress on being the primary to innovate.
Learn the complete Reuters investigation right here.
