Musk and his "death tunnels" in Las Vegas

In 2016, the wealthy Elon Musk founded The Boring Company, a company specialising in tunnel design. Since then, problems have only multiplied. And the latest investigations by the media Bloomberg aren't going to change the situation. Between disastrous working conditions and non-existent protections, chaos reigns in these "death tunnels."

The investigation focused on the boring of a tunnel connecting two hotels in Las Vegas (in the Western United States). “The working conditions of the workers carrying out this massive operation are described as absolutely disastrous. It's almost a miracle that no one has lost their life yet,” reports the platform Korii. The workers of The Boring Company, or TBC, are required every day to remove astronomical amounts of chemical-laden mud, dangerous to health. Splashes on the face and arms (and even inside clothing), no one inside this under-construction tunnel is safe from danger.

Neglected safety

As Korii reports, these extremely harmful chemical elements act as catalysts to optimise the role of the sealant used to protect the concrete work from cracks and other deteriorations. On contact with human skin, they cause significant burns, especially when safety equipment is lacking. The safety of employees isn't a priority at all for The Boring Company, which might never see the project to completion. And it won't be the first of Musk's projects to be abandoned!

An uncontrollable project

No fatalities for now... But, according to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), the American federal agency for health and safety at work, some workers have narrowly escaped the Grim Reaper, with the chemical mud not being the only source of danger in these dark and damp spaces. In the summer of 2023, for example, two tonnes of concrete debris nearly crushed an intern. OSHA also found eight "serious" violations of the labour code. Authorities' concerns are growing as the project progresses, fearing for the lives of workers who must proceed quickly under appalling working conditions.

And none of this stops Elon Musk from wanting to complete the construction as quickly as possible. TBC seems to be getting out of control... 

(MH with Raphaël Liset - Source: Korii - Illustration: ©Unsplash)