ABC News: A stagehands union that was fined $11,500 after seven people were killed when rigging collapsed onto a crowd at the Indiana State Fair has reached a settlement with the state absolving it of the penalty.
The union must implement a new safety training program as part of the agreement, which was signed Monday by Indiana's deputy labor commissioner and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 30's business manager.
5 comments:
It's great that that this has finally come to a resolve and hopefully all parties involved will now be able to move on in a manner that is safer and accepted by everyone. Although some of these training programs now put in place might not have prevented the accident, it is the right step forward in ensuring and promoting workplace safety. I hope that the "hazard identification training" will not only be general to all workplaces, but also go into specific details for the entertainment industry and the equipment or locations the Union will work. We all receive a lot of general training, but in certain cases I feel that the more specific training that only certain individuals receive could help find that one small flaw.
It would also be interesting to find out what specific violations/code was applicable for each entity. We always talk about not knowing what to follow.
I'm glad to see that there is still updates going on with the Indiana Fair event. I feel that too often there are events that get lots of coverage and then just disappears into the ether. I'm still a little unclear about what the safety training will entail and whether it will be nationwide or just in Indiana. I respect the Union but often I'm a little concerned with the actual training that these members have and the important jobs that they do. While the Indiana Fair Incident was tragic it was a good wake up call for Stagehands everywhere.
It's interesting to see this issue come to light over a year after it happened. I'm glad that the news did not ignore this as its important these issues are not taken lightly and swept under the rug. That being said there is no excuse that this tragic event happened in the first place. In order for this to happen someone did not do their job properly! Whether this was faulty engineering, faulty rigging, or even the wrong management call not to evacuate in time, there really is no excuse for this type of thing to happen. As the people who design and build this kind of stuff we are responsible for making sure EVERYTHING is on point. Managers should be making calls to cancel or evacuate with safety as the number one priority, NOT trying to see that the show goes on! Clearly many things went wrong at the Indiana state fair and I wish the article reported more specifics. Despite this tragedy we can learn from it and I think more training is certainly the way to go in this situation. This is simply the only way to prevent this type of thing from happening again.
I would first like to say that I feel like what happened was obviously an atrocity. However, when it comes to safety, I feel like this is a step in the right direction, however it is not the only step that needs to be taken. I agree with AJ, that not only should initial training be included, but more detailed and specific training should be mandated. I think about my own employment situations. Many of these situations included a plethora of training at the beginning, however there was very little subsequent training or review. Naturally over time, you forget certain details, which brings me to my next point, leadership. It really agitates me that there is debate over whose responsibility it was and who dropped the ball. Someone should be held accountable. While training is good, the one thing this article failed to mention was the formation of a clear chart for accountability and responsibility, and additional training for those individuals in those roles. While the union model offers a great work force and flexibility in what they are able to do, this flexibility should not compromise safety.
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