Washington state worker safety officials fined Elon Musk's SpaceX $3,600 this month after an accident at one of its sites reportedly led to a "near amputation."
Inspectors from Washington state’s Department of Labor and Industries found new safety violations at the company's facility in Redmond, which manufactures satellites for the global Starlink broadband internet network. The inspections were conducted in December, after workers complained of on-the-job hazards, according to Reuters.
Inspection records obtained by the news agency stated the SpaceX site lacked a "thorough safety program," adequate communication of work rules and a system to "correct violations," the report said. The "near amputation" incident occurred after a roll of material fell and crushed a worker's foot, according to inspectors.
Managers at SpaceX told the state inspectors that it was a one-time incident and the problem was fixed, Reuters reported.
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SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The inspection reportedly found that employees were not required to wear steel-toe shoes, even though the rolls of material they must load into machines are as heavy as 300 pounds. An agency spokesperson described the violation as serious given the risk of injury from working with such heavy materials.
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One worker interviewed by inspectors said that "safety can get overlooked" because the company's "goal is to make as much as we can in a short amount of time," according to inspection records reviewed by Reuters.
The worker who nearly had their foot amputated said the machine where the rolls were loaded "had been deliberately set up incorrectly for the purpose of increasing the production rate during the material loading phase."
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The injured worker also claimed that management had not addressed the issue and said safety officials at the company do not "have the reading comprehension nor the overall competency to implement a safety plan at the Redmond site," per Reuters.
Last year, an investigation by Reuters revealed that Musk's spaceflight company disregarded worker-safety regulations and standard practices at its facilities nationwide. The report uncovered at least 600 previously unreported injuries of SpaceX workers since 2014, based on interviews and government records.
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The report said that worker safety agencies nationwide fined SpaceX a total of $50,836 for various violations in the last decade. It noted that these fines are capped by law and may pose little incentive for major companies to comply with safety regulations, according to U.S. worker safety experts.
SpaceX has not responded to media inquiries about the findings or about its workplace safety violations.
Reuters contributed to this report.
