A report by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration claims that during the construction of the Las Vegas tunnel system, some employees of The Boring Company worked for 12 hours without lunch in harsh conditions (temperatures reached 38°C), and suffered chemical burns and other accidents.
The Las Vegas tunnel, which is up to 3 kilometers long, was opened in 2021, but The Boring Company continued to expand its network to connect Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip, the nearby airport, and Allegiant Stadium.
Today Bloomberg, citing an investigation by the Labor Protection Authority, writes that some workers were forced to wade through mud containing chemicals during construction, which caused them to suffer burns.
There have been other accidents as well – one of the trainees was «almost crushed» by a collapsed cement container, and another worker was nearly hit by a car when the forklift’s brakes failed (fortunately, he was saved by his seatbelt).
Last fall, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration already fined The Boring Company $112,504 after finding eight «serious» violations. However, the company denied the claims, saying that the organization «failed to establish that the alleged violations occurred».
Elon Musk founded his tunneling company back in 2016 to solve the problem of congested roads.
«Traffic jams drive me crazy», — the billionaire wrote on social media at the time.
Currently, The Boring Company has a research and development tunnel in Hawthorne, California, but the only active commercial tunnel is the one in Las Vegas.
It’s not the first time the billionaire’s companies have faced allegations of potential worker hazards — last year, a Reuters investigation found that SpaceX workers were putting in over 80-hour workweeks and facing high injury rates in order to keep up with Musk’s «maniacal sense of urgency». The billionaire has been known to run his companies with high intensity, sometimes calling for work sprints and even sleeping on the factory floor at Tesla.