Boring Company Facing Fines by Nevada OSHA for Multiple Safety Issues in Vegas Loop Tunnel
LAS VEGAS, NV – Elon Musk’s The Boring Company Is looking at serious fines imposed by the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) relating to what the organization is calling serious safety issues in its Las Vegas Loop tunnel system, citing multiple injuries suffered by workers for Musk’s company while constructing the underground people mover.
The Las Vegas Loop is a transport system constructed underneath the city, comprised of a series of underground tunnels dug by The Boring Company that currently ferries people back and forth to the Las Vegas Convention Center in a series of Tesla automated electric cars. The Boring Company had previously stated they plan on expanding the tunnel system, with plans for new people mover routes to various area resorts, sporting venues, and the airport.
However, following a complaint to OSHA and a subsequent inspection, The Boring Company was hit with eight citations and is now facing over $100,000 in fines due to purported burns suffered by workers by accelerants used in the concrete mix utilized in the Loop tunnel construction.
Dale Kuykendall, a spokesperson for the JacksonLewis firm – the legal team representing The Boring Company – maintains that OSHA had failed to show that any of the allegations against Musk’s company had any validity or merit.
In addition to [The Boring Company’s] belief that Nevada OSHA has failed to establish that the alleged violations occurred, TBC contests all of the citations’ classifications, required abatement, abatement deadlines, proposed penalties, and every other matter subject to contest,” Kuykendall said in a letter to OSHA.
According to OSHA, approximately 20 workers on the Las Vegas Loop – who were not provided with adequate protective gear – had suffered injuries while constructing the project’s Encore tunnel site after being exposed to hazardous chemicals such as bentonite, fly ash, R 100 and Portland Cement.
The chemical mixture was inadvertently sprayed onto approximately 10-15 employees soaking through their work clothing, absorbing into the skin resulting in skin irritation, skin rashes, and skin chemical burns,” the report said. “The employer did not provide instruction on personal protective equipment requirements to employees, and employees were not instructed in the recognition and avoidance of hazards associated with the underground construction.”
Other issues cited by OSHA included waste transport conveyor belts that lacked safeguards to prevent hazardous materials from falling on employees, and overloaded and collapsing onsite waste bins.
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