No complaints of unsafe conditions on the “Rust” set were sent to the state’s safety bureau

There were no complaints of unsafe conditions on the “Rust” set sent to the Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) in New Mexico, according to an email sent to CNN from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). 

Rebecca Roose, Deputy Cabinet Secretary of Administration for NMED, also said in the email that the agency does not do routine inspections of film sets but does inspections when a tip or complaint is received at the office. 

A spokesperson for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham tells CNN in an email that personnel from OHSB is on site today investigating. 

NMED said in a news release on Friday that they were informed by the New Mexico Film Office of the shooting on the set that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyne Hutchins and injury to director Joel Souza. The production company reported the fatality and injury on Thursday night, “in accordance with workplace safety laws,” the release says.

OHSB’s investigation is ongoing and information will be released once that investigation is complete, the release states. 

Gov. Lujan Grisham said in a statement that her “full expectation is that the film and television industry will, at the conclusion of the investigation into this tragic incident and once all the facts are in hand, bring forward comprehensive new safety protocols to ensure this kind of incident never, ever happens again.”

She said that if that doesn’t happen, the state will “take immediate action” to ensure the safety of everyone on all film and television sets throughout New Mexico.

“This industry is important to us economically and to so many workers throughout New Mexico, and I look forward to a full accounting of how this could have possibly happened, and we will determine our next steps from there,” she said.

Read the full statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham below: 

“Workplace safety in any and every industry in New Mexico is absolutely paramount. A workplace death is never acceptable and must compel an analysis of what can and should be done better. My full expectation is that the film and television industry will, at the conclusion of the investigation into this tragic incident and once all the facts are in hand, bring forward comprehensive new safety protocols to ensure this kind of incident never, ever happens again. If that sort of comprehensive new approach does not materialize, the state of New Mexico will take immediate action, throughout whatever means are available to us, to ensure the safety of all personnel on all film and television sets here in our state. This industry is important to us economically and to so many workers throughout New Mexico, and I look forward to a full accounting of how this could have possibly happened, and we will determine our next steps from there.”

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