Monday, November 04, 2013
OSHA Issues Fines for Death of Cirque du Soleil Performer
Stage Directions: Nevada OSHA has finished its investigation into the death of Sarah Guillot-Guyard, the Cirque du Soleil performer who fell 94 feet during the climactic scene of Ka on June 29 and later died. OSHA determined that accident happened when the wire rope she was suspended from broke. According to the report, the wire rope “was severed due to the rapid ascent of the performer, ultimately causing the rope to be freed from the sheave/pulley and scraping against a shear point.” OSHA officials cited Cirque du Soleil with six proposed citations and more than $25,000 in fines and MGM Grand with three citations and a $7,000 fine. Cirque du Soleil and MGM are appealing the fines.
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4 comments:
Cirque du Soleil shows are always incredibly dangerous and require such precision and accuracy when it comes to safety, that I am amazed more incidents do not occur. However, based on the OSHA citations listed at the bottom of this article, it appears that Cirque was a bit negligent when it came to this performance, with improper education of crew members and allowing a performer to enter a zone forbidden by and agreement with OSHA standards. It also amazes me, although I am not much surprised based on their reputation, the way that Cirque is treating this whole affair - a performer died during a performance for one of their shows, and although they asserted that they would redouble safety efforts, they are complaining about the fines they are given. It would seem they deserve these fines for allowing such a tragic event to occur, but maybe I am missing part of the bigger picture.
Cirque shows are phenomenal and always look incredibly dangerous, but I feel like as this is the first death they have had, everything is always running smoothly backstage and a lot of what they do is safer than it appears. Everything they do is incredibly well rehearsed and it seems like her death was an unfortunate accident. However that does not mean Cirque should walk away scott free. What they do is dangerous and they were probably really well prepared, but obviously not well enough. Cirque claims to cooperating with OSHA but they are appealing the fines. However this plays out I hope Cirque can prevent any more death during their shows in the future.
The closing of the show for the investigation and the subsequent bad press have certainly cause a larger financial burden than the fines and investigation will. I think that Cirque has had an impressive safety record up until now and are very vigorous in their training and safety but after 9 years their luck ran out. It is an inherently dangerous show and people are fallible. These fines are really a symbolic gesture from OSHA and are not going to play a major role in the company moving forward.
I have a feeling this article doesn’t tell the entire story of what happened here. It’s not an entertainment centered information outlet, so I’m not sure they have all the facts accurate.
I’d like to know exactly what equipment failed and where. This article probably grossly oversimplifies the incident stating, “the wire rope broke” and “jumped the sheave.”
In any case though, this is a really unfortunate incident, and scary in that this is Cirque. If Cirque can’t safely pull off a flying effect, the rest of us should really be scared.
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