Manufacturers of “rust” punished for “serious violation” of safety law and agency rules –

Manufacturers Oxide Knowing that firearm safety procedures were not followed on set, he showed “simple disregard” for the well-being of the cast and crew, according to the New Mexico Security Agency.

The New Mexico Department of the Environment’s Office of Occupational Safety and Health found numerous breaches of safety protocols, including the inclusion of live ammunition in the kit and the crew’s failure to properly use firearms. He issued the highest-level quote and the maximum fine allowed by state law was $136,793.

The report states that Rust Movie Productions ignored “firearm threats due to non-compliance with its own safety protocols, adhered to safety protocols and failed to ensure that time and effort was devoted to deadly weapons.” Follow the cast and crew. In addition, the employer ignored or did not ask questions or try to find out what happened when the crew informed management about the fire and did not feel safe on set.”

A fatal shooting at a shooting range in October 2021 is being investigated Oxide Who killed director of photography Halina Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.

The agency concluded that there was a “serious violation” of the New Mexico Occupational Safety and Health Act. Oxide Management has implemented its own safety procedures taken from the industry-wide workplace safety committee. One of the rules states that live ammunition can never be inserted.

“Oxide “The process was not designed to ensure live ammunition was not filmed, including that Armorer did not receive a full ammunition inventory,” the agency said in a statement.

Other violations included protocols stating that no one may use a firearm that they are not trained to use.

The report describes two previous incidents when a firearm accidentally exploded. The first misfire, which occurred on October 16, a week before the fatal shooting, occurred when prop master Sarah Zakari inadvertently fired a blank as she finished loading a .45 caliber revolver pointed at the ground. The second involved the stunt of Alec Baldwin, who said the weapon “just disappeared”.

Just a day before the Hutchins murder, Lane Luper, the camera’s first assistant, resigned over security concerns.

“When a fight is fought over this job, things usually unfold very quickly and smoothly,” Luper wrote in an email. “To be clear, there are no safety meetings these days. There was no explanation of what to expect from these photos. ”

The OHSB discovered this Oxide Management ignored the red flags raised by the shooting and interested actors.

The report also concluded that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s armor was too thin. In accordance with recognized industry security practices, armored personnel carriers must be present when firearms are used and must have the authority to determine whether a person needs additional security training. But Gutierrez-Reed also had to play the role of support assistant when the firearm was not in active use. Line producer Gabriel Pickle told him that she had been paid eight days as armor and that the remaining time would be spent as a professional assistant.

Pickle wrote to Gutierrez-Reed in an email: “I have been told that you are paying more attention to the armor and that you are not supporting it as much as you should.” In the same message, Pickle said that “the production team and AD saw twice the rifle left unattended after the scene” and that “some sort of check/exit system needs to be implemented immediately”.

Gutierrez-Reed responded that the armor role was “a very serious job, and since we started, I’ve had a lot of days where my job is just to focus on weapons and everyone’s safety.” He also said that “every day there are working tools on set and eventually they will be a priority because when they aren’t dangerous mistakes can happen”.

In another conversation, Pickle instructed Gutierrez-Reed to no longer conduct firearms training with Baldwin and other actors.

Jason Bowles, an attorney representing Gutierrez Reed, said in a statement that the report concluded that his client “was not given adequate time or resources to do the job effectively, despite his concerns.”

The statement read: “As we have already mentioned, if someone from Hannah had called Hannah before the stage to go to church to consult with him, this tragedy would have been avoided.”

Environmental Cabinet Secretary James Kenny said: “Our investigation has established that this tragic incident would never have occurred if Rust Movie Productions, LLC had met National Firearms Safety Film Industry standards. It is the complete failure of the employer to follow nationally recognized protocols that protect employees. ”