Injuries Rate In SpaceX Facilities Exceeds Industry Average In 2023

Illustration of rockets built by Spacex (photo: x @spacex)

JAKARTA - The injury rate at the SpaceX facility continues to exceed the industry average by 2023, according to a review of safety data reported to US regulators by space company controlled by billionaire Elon Musk.

Records in 2023, recently disclosed by the Job Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), also suggest that the injury rate at some SpaceX facilities is deteriorating compared to what the company reported in 2022.

At SpaceX manufacturing and launch facilities in Brownsville, Texas, for example, SpaceX reported 5.9 injuries per 100 workers, exceeding the level of 4.8 injuries in 2022 and exceeding the space industry average of 0.8.

The company's high injury rate last year was the subject of a Reuters investigation that found at least 600 previously unreported worker injuries in this rocket and satellite company. The injuries caused fractures, amputations, serious head injuries, and one death.

SpaceX did not provide a response to the report.

Safety experts say the high injury rate should be of concern to SpaceX clients, including the National Space Aviation Administration (NASA). The federal space program has increasingly relied on SpaceX in recent years and by 2022 it has paid the company at least 11.8 billion US dollars for various contracts.

"NASA should pay attention to the quality of work," said David Michaels, a former OSHA administrator who is now a professor at George Washington University. High injury rates, he added, could be an "indicator of poor production quality."

NASA's spokesman did not provide a response to a request for comment.

Reuters calculated the latest injury rates using data published by OSHA last week. Data for 2023 is the most complete SpaceX has ever reported, which reported injuries from eight main facilities, three more than 2022. In previous years, SpaceX had never reported data for most of its sites, which included manufacturing, launch, and other facilities.

In the unit that took back the rocket booster in the Pacific Ocean, SpaceX last year reported 7.6 injuries per 100 workers, more than nine times the industrial level.

Both the company and Musk, the company's billionaire founder and chief executive officer (CEO), have not publicly addressed SpaceX's safety track record in detail.

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's chief operating officer (COO) in March reposted a video on social media about an emergency parachute tested on the company's website in Florida. Commenting on the video on X, a social media company also controlled by Musk, he wrote that "the safety of astronauts and personnel is SpaceX's highest priority."