12 ms·

Maybe they can normalize for number of launches. I'd be curious if the number/rate is actually lower when adjusted for activity level. I just skimmed the artic

Maybe they can normalize for number of launches. I'd be curious if the number/rate is actually lower when adjusted for activity level. I just skimmed the article, but it looks like the rate is based on headcount, not productivity: > TRIR topped out at 4.27 injuries per 100 workers in 2024, when it employed an average of 2,690 workers, according to the data submitted to OSHA. Injured Starbase employees were unable to perform their normal job duties for a total of 3,558 restricted-duty days, plus 656 lost-time days where injuries made them unable to work at all. > Starbase is classified by the U.S. government as a space vehicle manufacturing operation. The injury rate in this sector has fallen dramatically since 1994, dropping from 4.2 injuries per 100 workers to 0.7 injuries per 100 workers in 2023, according to historical data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (BLS calculates these rates through its annual company surveys, which asks for the same information found in OSHA’s worker injury forms.) But despite major changes in safety processes across the industry, Starbase is closer to the rates of 30 years ago.

asadotzler 1y ago
It's not even about the rockets. This is a city being built. Hundreds of homes and apartments and a massive office building and a rec center and roads and roundabouts and launch pads and tank farms and inventory buildings, and yes, a rocket factory that makes and launches massive prototypes. Compare Starbase not to other rocket facilities but to large-scale construction projects. Then we'll have apples to apples injury rates. If you want to compare rocket factories, then only count injuries in the Starfactory itself, or factory+launch staff, or whatever. But comparing a city under construction with a long-completed launch facility and the offices used by the launch staff is disingenuous at best.
- ceejayoz 1y ago
  I know SpaceX likes to make things in-house, but I really doubt that extends to residential subdivisions. That's what contractors are for.
- queenkjuul 1y ago
  It only includes SpaceX employees and is adjusted for hours worked, and it's not only higher than other rocket facilities, but higher than the construction industry. It's actually not normal to see high injury rates on large construction sites in the US.

asadotzler 1y ago

It's not even about the rockets. This is a city being built. Hundreds of homes and apartments and a massive office building and a rec center and roads and roundabouts and launch pads and tank farms and inventory buildings, and yes, a rocket factory that makes and launches massive prototypes. Compare Starbase not to other rocket facilities but to large-scale construction projects. Then we'll have apples to apples injury rates. If you want to compare rocket factories, then only count injuries in the Starfactory itself, or factory+launch staff, or whatever. But comparing a city under construction with a long-completed launch facility and the offices used by the launch staff is disingenuous at best.

ceejayoz 1y ago
I know SpaceX likes to make things in-house, but I really doubt that extends to residential subdivisions. That's what contractors are for.
queenkjuul 1y ago
It only includes SpaceX employees and is adjusted for hours worked, and it's not only higher than other rocket facilities, but higher than the construction industry. It's actually not normal to see high injury rates on large construction sites in the US.