Worker injuries are never a good thing, but this particular article smells suspiciously like a hit piece.
Since LeBlanc’s death in June 2014, which hasn’t been previously reported
That bit of the article is a lie. It was reported and discussed at the time, which the author seems to have conveniently forgot.
The author of the article also seems to have a strange fixation on the CEO who is emphasized in 9 of their 10 most recent articles. The timing of article publication so close to the upcoming IFT-2 seems a bit suspicious.
u/spacerfirstclass wrote up a nice comparison in The Other Place:
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) injury statistics for 2022: https://www.bls.gov/iif/nonfatal-injuries-and-illnesses-tables/table-1-injury-and-illness-rates-by-industry-2022-national.htm
The 0.8 injuries per 100 workers for “Guided missile and space vehicle manufacturing” category is very low when comparing to other manufacturing industries that is comparable to what SpaceX is doing:
Average of all private industries: 2.7
Fabricated metal product manufacturing: 3.7
Machinery manufacturing: 2.8
Motor vehicle manufacturing: 5.9
Motor vehicle body and trailer manufacturing: 5.8
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing: 3.1
Aircraft manufacturing: 2.5
Ship and boat building: 5.6
Overall I don’t see the numbers Reuters presented for 2022 (4.8 for Boca Chica, 1.8 for Hawthorne, 2.7 for McGregor) as abnormal at all, when compared to these other heavy manufacturing industries. I suspect the reason “Guided missile and space vehicle manufacturing” category reported such a low injury rate is because old space is not at all setup to be a high volume manufacturer as SpaceX is.
It is a hit piece for sure.