U.S. labor officials have fined Elon Musk's SpaceX $3,600. This happened after an accident at the company's site in Washington state, writes Reuters.
The incident resulted in a "near amputation" of a SpaceX employee at the Redmond facility. The company's employee suffered a leg injury. The inspectors visited the site last December. SpaceX management told them that the injury was a one-time incident and that the problem had been resolved.
However, during the inspection, the experts concluded that the facility lacked a "thorough safety program," adequate information about the rules of operation, and a system for "correcting violations."
For example, employees on the site were not required to wear steel-toed shoes, even though they were handling materials weighing 36-136 kg. This violation was recognized as a serious one given the risk of injury.
Another employee of the company was injured after an unsuccessful jump during a fire alarm. He was hospitalized with a broken ankle. But this situation did not result in any penalties against SpaceX.
Recently, Elon Musk's SpaceX faced a negligence lawsuit in the United States. It was filed by the wife of one of the company's employees who fell into a coma after an incident at a factory in California.