The Indiana State Fair Stage Collapse
A lack of safety inspections and serious compliance violations played a big part in the deaths of seven people last August, when the Indiana State Fair stage collapsed in a windstorm. The event drew a lot of attention, not just in the media, but on YouTube and other social websites. Now, three organizations will pay the price for neglecting safety – with fines totaling $80,800.
This was surely one of the more horrifying accidents to watch in 2011. Several dramatic videos of the stage collapse were captured by people in the crowd that day. At the bottom of this post, we’ve included one that captures what happened in slow motion.
This week, the Indiana Department of Labor officially fined three organizations a total of $80,800. Here’s how the fines break down:
- The Indiana State Fair Commission was fined $6,300 for failing to conduct a life safety evaluation, which would have included an assessment of all safety measures and conditions of the Indiana State Fairgrounds concert venues.
- The Local 30 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, including Theatrical Payroll Services Inc., was fined $11,500 for three serious violations and one non-serious violation. Citations included failure to consider soil conditions when placing cable anchor points for the grandstand stage; failure to provide fall protection for employees working four feet or more above ground level; and, failure to conduct a personal protective equipment hazard assessment of the worksite.
- Mid-America Sound Corporation was fined a whopping $63,000 for failing to develop and implement an Operations Management Plan, failing to develop a risk assessment plan, failure to maintain and use current engineering calculations and documentation, and failure to provide appropriate, qualified supervision.
The types of serious violations listed above are all too common, and unfortunately it sometimes takes a disaster like this to sound a safety wake-up call for some organizations.
As makers of a leading inspection and compliance management system, we found the non-serious violation just as interesting. In the case of the Local 30 of the International Alliance of Theatrical State Employees, the Department of Labor noted that the organization had failed to maintain proper OSHA records for four years. With Field ID, maintaining compliance electronically is so easy that we find it difficult to understand this kind of neglect. But we do understand that it can be a challenge for non-users.
Here’s a video of the stage collapse, but be advised that the sound is very loud and you may wish to adjust your volume…
