CMU School of Drama


Thursday, January 29, 2015

PAC: Technical director died in fall, OSHA investigating

Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports: Officials have confirmed a 54-year-old man working at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center died after a hydraulic lift toppled over Wednesday afternoon.

David Swain, Technical Director for the Performing Arts Center, was found unresponsive on the stage next to the basket of a toppled lift around 4:22 p.m., according to North Charleston police. There were no witnesses that saw the lift fall, officers say.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

What is perhaps the most concerning about this incident is that there were "no witnesses". While never convenient, working with someone - especially in such conditions - is imperative. I still remember my father deciding to put up a ceiling fan one day while he was off from work. My mother and I were horrified when he told us that it was okay, he had unlocked the front door for the emergency responders and had put the phone at the base of the later where he assumed he was most likely to fall. When something goes wrong - especially up in the air, working at elevated heights - it can go wrong so many ways. And in the event that a partner cannot stop the accident from occurring, their response in the initial moments post-accident can mean the difference between life and death. This was such an avoidable accident, and it is truly regrettable that it takes tragedy to remind us of the importance and necessity of safety measures.

Zara Bucci said...

It is intriguing to me that the technical director in this scenario was left alone while working because, especially when using large machinery, we are told to always have another body president in case of emergency if someone gets her really injured to the point where they're unable to help themselves. My heart goes out to all those affected in conjunction to this case. However, I think that this event willPlay a large part in how things are handled more carefully in the future especially in regards to working alone.this just goes to show that anyone, regardless of how long they were working in a certain space, can get injured doing something that they know how to do and have done probably every day. you can never get too used to doing something that you forget that you still need to be safe while doing so. This tragic event comes with the lesson and I hope that everyone will learn something from this and take it with them in the future.