Current Events > Elon Puts Ego Over Safety of SpaceX Workers

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https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/elon-musk-told-spacex-workers-181406484.html

SpaceX employees have accused Elon Musk, the rocket company's founder, of being fast and loose when it comes to safety measures.

Four SpaceX workers told Reuters that Musk discouraged employees from wearing yellow-colored clothes for safety purposes because he does not like bright colors.

The employees also told the news outlet that Musk would play around with a novelty flamethrower during visits that the billionaire made to SpaceX sites.

Three former SpaceX supervisors told Reuters that Musk would have machinery painted in industrial safety yellow repainted to black or blue because of he didn't like how it looked. The ex-supervisors also said that some workers were told not to wear yellow safety vests when Musk was on site.

The investigation by Reuters found that SpaceX has had at least 600 previously unreported worker injuries since 2014, including eight accidents that led to amputations.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider on Friday.

Reuters' report comes after some SpaceX employees wrote an open letter last year criticizing Musk's behavior as a "source of distraction and embarrassment."

Musk has been known to run his companies with a high level of intensity, sometimes calling for work sprints and even sleeping on the factory floor at Tesla.

Welcome to why you don't let children run major corporations or space programs.

Unfortunately, you don't become a multibillionaire by being concerned for the safety and well-being of those actually doing the grunt work for you.