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Comment by amatecha

17 hours ago

Also covered at https://www.investigatewest.org/a-starlink-lab-exposed-unsus... which appears to be the source

8 comments

amatecha

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jimnotgym  11 hours ago

>It fined the company $6,000.

Less than SpaceX spent a lawyers to appeal it. Less than the cost of ventilation.

I guess you can look forward to that happening again then!

Pro-tip, join a Trade Union, your country doesn't protect you

  • CapitalistCartr  8 hours ago

    This is the answer to most of professional life. Unionize! If you don't manage people, join a union. If you think where you work is fine so you don't need a union, that's when you need one, before something like this happens.

    • jimnotgym  5 hours ago

      I manage people and am in a Union. I still have a boss, and in a dispute I was able to call on their help

SilverElfin  17 hours ago

> Starting in 2024, customer support workers reported symptoms that matched the known toxic effects of exposure to several chemicals used in the lab. Douglas Altshuler, a former Starlink customer support associate who lived with Crohn’s disease, experienced an allergic reaction that caused one of his eyes to swell shut. A doctor later attributed his condition to “an unknown chemical exposure,” according to a complaint he submitted to Labor & Industries. SpaceX also received more than two dozen other internal complaints from workers who reported headaches, eye irritation and allergic reactions. Altshuler’s complaint said that he was concerned the chemicals caused two women in the customer support office to have miscarriages and another man to have a liver transplant. InvestigateWest spoke with several former workers who confirmed that at least one woman miscarried. The man who allegedly had a liver transplant could not be reached for this story.

This is pretty scary. Who knows what other health problems employees have are related to this issue. And SpaceX won’t comment or share what chemicals were involved? Horrible.