The following statements were provided by Nevada OSHA or Chris Reilly, who works in the Nevada Governor’s Office, in response to Fortune’s recent investigation into the handling of “willful” citations that Nevada OSHA issued to The Boring Co., Elon Musk’s tunneling transportation startup. For transparency, Fortune is publishing all relevant statements in their entirety.
Regarding OSHA legal counsel’s review of the citations against Boring Co., and the decision to remove the citations in their entirety.
Nevada OSHA response: Legal review focuses on the four legal requirements for a citation: standard applies, standard violated, employee exposure, and employer knowledge. Legal counsel determined that three out of four of the elements were not met so the citations had to be withdrawn.
Regarding whether the agency considered amending the categorization of the citations instead of withdrawing them altogether
Nevada OSHA response: Because all four required elements were not in place, the agency could not consider amending the categorization of the citations.
Regarding three citations against Boring Co. disappearing from the case file completely, as well as discrepancies in the case file, including the incorrect date on the second closing document, violation worksheets not being saved into the case file, and an amendment to the closing conference narrative being inadvertently omitted.
Nevada OSHA response: There were issues with the quality of the casefile. The original citations have been added to the permanent casefile and the casefile diary has been amended to ensure all information is included. Nevada OSHA takes this issue seriously and immediately took action to develop and implement standard operating procedures to improve the quality of casefiles.
Regarding the Nevada OSHA appeals process not being followed, and Nevada OSHA employees, regulators, and employment lawyers asserting it is inappropriate for the Governor’s Office and political appointees to get involved in a specific OSHA inspection—even one involving a high-profile company.
Nevada OSHA response: The Governor’s office frequently receives complaints and inquiries from constituents and licensees. It is standard practice for the Governor’s office to reach out to Department leadership to assist in resolving these complaints or informational inquiries. The majority of the complaints that are referred to the Department relate to specific cases or actions taken by our regulatory agencies or boards and commissions. This specific outreach from Boring Company is not an anomaly and only stands out due to the high-profile nature of the business because of its affiliation with Elon Musk. The Department has never been directed by the Governor’s office to come to a predetermined outcome in the review and resolution of these complaints. In this instance, [Dr. Kristopher Sanchez, director of the Department of Business and Industry] walked away from his interaction with the Governor’s office on May 28 with staff’s support for Nevada OSHA to keep the citations in place if the proposed citations were found to have merit and could be validated.
Chris Reilly’s response: Regarding the claim that the appeals process was not properly followed, that assumption relies on the violations having internal records that back them up to begin with. According to the Department of Industrial Relations, the violations were issued without proper internal documentation, failed to consider materials previously submitted by the company refuting the violations, and should not have been sent. This was shared by both OSHA and DIR in the May 29th meeting.
Regarding the line item about the meeting with the Governor’s Office being deleted from a public record:
Nevada OSHA response: At no time did the Department of Business and Industry or Division of Industrial Relations leadership feel pressured or were instructed to withdraw the citations by the Governor, his staff or any third party. Further, Department and Division leadership at no time instructed Nevada OSHA’s CAO or staff to apply preferential treatment to this case or any other involving the Boring Company, or direct them to delete, withhold or otherwise hide information pertaining to the May 29 meeting. Far from seeking to conceal the meeting, Department and Division officials willingly disclosed information pertaining to the May 29 meeting before you ever asked about the meeting. To ensure that the file is accurate, an amended case file diary was provided on 11/4/2025 that has an entry related to the May 29 meeting.
Chris Reilly’s response: Regarding OSHA’s case diary removing the May 29th meeting, I can confirm that no record was edited at the direction of me, the Governor’s Office, DIR, B&I, or any other entity I am aware of. This insinuation is incorrect, and the calendar records still reflect this meeting without any changes.
Regarding assertions that the agency feels very political right now and that people are frightened they might get fired or disciplined for doing their jobs.
Nevada OSHA response: Staff performance issues were addressed following the review of this case. Additionally, steps were taken to implement several new policies and procedures that will provide additional structure around the handling of case files and citations. The Division of Industrial Relations leadership will be working closely with the new Nevada CAO to ensure that the areas identified during the after-action review have been fully addressed or if additional actions are required to ensure excellence.
Regarding assertions that this incident has called into question OSHA’s independence as well as its willingness/ability to wield its own authority to enforce safe working conditions and say that accountability had been compromised in order to appease a high-profile business.
Nevada OSHA response: Nevada OSHA has a long record of engagement and oversight of the Boring Company, which includes quarterly meetings with company officials beginning in 2022 before they began digging their first tunnel. Nevada OSHA has conducted 8 inspections, 5 of which found no violations and one inspection that resulted in 8 citations which were validly issued and currently pending before the Review Board. They currently have 2 inspections open. In these cases, and in all others, if a violation should be found and circumstances of the citation meet the required elements, a citation and notice of penalty will be issued.
Regarding Nevada OSHA staffers being alarmed by the handling of these citations and the speed at which the citations were withdrawn and that these actions have made agency employees fear inspecting or regulating Boring Co. in the future.
Nevada OSHA response: Department and Division leadership has communicated to staff that they have their full support to do their job in way that ensures Nevada employees have access to a safe, healthful workplace, and businesses have confidence that the agency will regulate them in a fair and impartial manner. One specific example of when this message was conveyed was the meeting Director Sanchez held with all OSHA employees on June 23. This message will continue to be communicated to alleviate the concerns of any staff member that may have these concerns.
