Friday, November 13, 2020
Broadway Stagehand Falls To Death Clearing ‘Beetlejuice’ Props
Deadline: A 54-year-old stagehand fell to his death from scaffolding inside Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre this morning as workers were restoring the venue following the departure of the Beetlejuice musical and in preparation for next year’s arrival of The Music Man.
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This article emphasizes the importance of a few things. First, follow all posted and unposted safety protocols. This was a serious fall. My immediate thought is where was this person’s safety gear? Why weren’t safety protocols followed, and who really is to blame? It will be telling when the investigation is completed, and the report is released. This is most definitely something that will be followed up on by many in the industry. My other concern is what exactly was being done as part of this restoration work and why was it being done? Broadway is closed until May 2021, why does this work need to be done right now? Yes. It’s nice to see some of our IATSE family back to work, this tragedy only emphasizes the dangers of our jobs. My final thought is with the family and friends of this person. So sad to see someone lose their life, especially right before the holidays.
This is heart wrenching, and my heart goes out to their friends and family. For me, this goes to show how dangerous our jobs can be and the risks we take to do them. Even if we follow every OSHA requirement, things can still go wrong. There is a reason for the safety measures and training courses (thank you, Kevin!), and why we have to be so careful about that. Sadly, this is an example of that. With the investigation still ongoing, we don’t know how the stagehand fell. Even if they did everything right, followed all the correct guidelines and rules, they still fell. I think the message for all of us is to make sure we take our work seriously, and take care of our own safety, and that of others, above all else. I hope that the conclusions of the investigations produce an action plan to continue to make the work of stagehands and other working individuals in the entertainment industry safer all around.
This is very tragic, and my heart first goes out to friends and family of the deceased. I then, involuntarily, side eye anyone who has rolled their eyes at me when I have told them to wear proper PPE during load-ins and strikes. This kind of eye rolling has primarily come from (yes offense) white men in the program and in the profession. We do not know the full situation behind this accident, whether the stagehand in question was following full safety protocols, or if another stagehand was side stepping protocol. At the end of the day, someone has lost their life doing their job and I do hope that whatever this investigation brings up, more attention is brought to what could be done to prevent this from happening again. Accidents happen, yes, but let us take every possible step to prevent them from happening. No one should die working in this profession. Be safe, wear a hard hat, and please listen when someone says to be careful.
This is extremely heartbreaking. As my fellow commenters have said, we still don’t know what went wrong but it’s probably safe to bet that he wasn’t wearing a safety harness. It good that OSHA goes to investigate every indecent like this to see if it was human error or equipment fail and to ensure it doesn’t happen again, data from the bureau of labor statistics show that injuries backstage that required the worker to take days away from work was 1,190 in 2009. I don’t know why we don’t have any recent data so I hope it has improved. Regardless, by following safety protocols set by OSHA, most all of those can be avoided. I think it mentions this in the bio raft videos but falling is by far the most common type of injury and most of those happen from a height of less than 10 ft. If we were just more cautious and more thoughtful we can avoid unnecessary injury.
As Jim Shumway said in class yesterday (Friday), we tell lots of stories about the entertainment industry, and few of them are good things that happened. While some stories can be funny, like FTSI shooting wire rope into the air like silly string, too many stories are tragedies like this one. The article does not, in my opinion, have nearly enough information about what protocols the deceased may or may not have followed, so I would rather not pass judgement like some others have at this point. That said, incidents like these are a sharp reminder to always follow safety protocols and best practices, even when (especially when) they may be inconvenient. Many of these rules are written in the blood of a past accident, and are intended to prevent it from happening again. No production is worth dying for, though sometimes the stereotypical cavalier stagehand may be so caught up in the 'the show must go on' attitude that they lose sight of this fact.
This was definitely a heartbreaking story. My very first question before even clicking on the article was what went wrong and who was responsible for this fall. At first I was wondering if it was equipment failure or human error, or perhaps just a blatant disregard for the safety rules and regulations. I definitely think it is very important that this incident is investigated to the fullest extent as the family deserves to know what happened and it could possibly be a learning experience to ensure that it does not happen again. What is scary to me is that even after following every single OSHA regulation things can still go wrong. Something that worries me with the industry being closed for so long, is that companies will demand even more from their labour causing even more of a chance for things to go wrong and people to get hurt. These stories remind us that we should not only be diligent in following these rules ourselves but also make sure others are following the rules, we must look out for each other to ensure the safest workplace possible.
I am speechless. I know this kind of stuff happens, but this is truly heartbreaking. When I was scrolling through the blog page and saw this my heart sunk. I hope her family and loved ones are okay and I send them my deepest condolences. No one ever thinks they're going to leave for work one day and not come back. It’s such a strange thing to wrap my head around, and I’m sure her family and colleagues feel the same. As well as the team having time to process this and then have to go back to work and do the same thing that cost someone their life? I know this is a risk that we all know and take into consideration, but you never think it’ll be you or your friend, so it’s a huge shock and reality check if it ever unfortunately happens. It just means that everyone needs to be extra careful and look out for everyone involved.
This article is truly devastating. I honestly had to read the title multiple times because I had a hard time comprehending the situation. My heart goes out to the family of this man and his coworkers who had to witness this tragedy. I think we can all do such more more the appreciate the stagehands and technical workers in the theatre who make everything possible. They are often in dangerous situation and have the bravery to traverse this for their work. We often don't understand the value and take these people for granted. I think that sometimes the routineness of the job can make it seem less dangerous, but you must always remember safety first. I hope that more is learned int eh investigation of the death and precautions can be made so other like it do not happen in the future.
First and foremost, it is devastating and a tragedy that this has happened. My condolences go out to his family and colleagues. I find it crazy that the first witness came from hearing the fall. I wonder why he was on the scaffolding unsupervised without being in the eyesight of anyone. I am not 100% sure on OSHA regulations, but even with a helmet on, I believe that he should not have been up on the scaffolding without a spot. Whether he was striking Beatlejuice or setting up for Music Man, I do not think that really matters. It is astonishing that he also was not able to be revived from this fall. I wish that this article included more of his injuries and the cause of death more specific to the fall. On top of that, it is crazy that his colleagues had to go back to work immediately to finish what he couldn't. I would not be able to handle that.
It’s always sad hearing about severe or fatal accidents that happen within our industry. Things like these are grave reminders of why all of the harsh safety lessons and checks are there, and why it’s so serious to follow them. Hopefully the investigation will spot things or find something to help make the space safer for the next stagehands who will use the space. It was kind of jarring to read the account from the porter of the event; and that he heard a loud noise before discovering him. I can’t imagine what the sight looked like. I re-read the article a few times to see if I could grasp any more information about what happened there; whether there was a structural failure, or some factor that lead to his death, but there isn’t much information. I guess perhaps he might not have had proper safety equipment on since he fell from a ladder? I hope the friends, family, an co-workers of the victim are doing okay.
I think this tragic article is one of the prime examples of how hard and how dangerous the work of a stagehand can be. While everything should be done to mitigate risk, sometimes that risk can not be brought down to zero. With time, I would be interested in seeing the OSHA report to understand if there were any guidelines broken during this restoration of the theatre in preparation for The Music Man to load into the theatre. Initially, the idea of a fall arrest harness could have saved his life however, the article never stated if he was working under conditions that would have warranted a fall arrest harness. Even with that in mind, I have learned a lot about suspension trauma this semester and while a fall arrest harness may not have spared the stagehand from injury, he might still be alive to push for stricter safety in the venue. No matter the outcome of the pending investigation, I hope his family and friends find some closure throughout their processes.
This unfortunate accident is definitely a grim reminder of how dangerous our jobs can be at any given moment. Of course, we don't know enough to tell why the man fell, but it reminds us that we have to be careful and vigilant at all times, not only for our own safety but also for our peers'. I would like to learn eventually what caused this accident, be it an issue with the space or a human error because while we can't do anything to prevent the death of this man, we can work to ensure that similar events won't occur to anyone else. That investigation is also important for another reason: to tell the family of the man what really happened. If the theatre space was at fault, then the family deserves to know and deserves to see them be held accountable for their failures. Regardless, my thoughts go out to the man's family, because I can't even imagine trying to cope with such a loss. It really makes me appreciative of the time that I do have, because maybe we really can never know when it'll end.
This is a tragic accident and my heart goes out to all of his family and friends. I can’t even begin to imagine how devastating this must be if you worked with him on the show. Stagehands do so much for productions and deserve so much appreciation. This is also a sad reminder that this kind of work can be very dangerous no matter how much experience you have. There’s a lot of risk that comes with working in a theatre especially during load in or strike. While I was reading the article I kept thinking about how everyone stresses that safety is the most important priority when working on a show. This was a worst case scenario. I’m hoping they take this investigation extremely seriously so they can use the findings to improve safety in the theatre and prevent other accidents that could occur as much as they can.
This is terrible news. It sounds like this person was on a ladder on the fly floor and fell over the rail. My immediate thought is about OSHA regulations regarding ladder use. I think the rule is that anyone who climbs over six feet on a ladder should be wearing a harness, but it is entirely possible that this stagehand was as little as two feet above the deck of the fly floor. This person was probably highly trained and experienced, and this accident goes to show that it can happen to anyone at any time. Even if we follow all safety regulations, we are still at risk. Incidents like this make it seem even more foolish to toe the line on safety. At the end of the day, it is just a job. To abruptly change the subject: I am glad to hear that there are people working, although I am confused to read that the Music Man is supposed to open at the Winter Garden in December. I suspect that this is old information, given that Broadway is closed until June.
I’m echoing what everyone else has stated in their comments. My heart breaks for the stagehand and their family, this is such a terrible thing for anyone to have to go through. This reminds me of freshman year, when we discussed the stagehand who died from falling off of scaffolding at Coachella. The work we do is dangerous and work regulations should not be taken lightly. I know it’s very easy to write off rules and think “that could never happen to me.”, but in reality it could always happen to anyone. Being in a Production Management position in the future shows me how seriously we need to take these rules and regulations, especially during load-ins and strikes. I would never want to kiss a loved one goodbye in the morning and have to live through their death from a workplace accident. My heart truly goes out to this stagehand’s family and I really hope that some comfort and healing enter their homes as soon as possible.
It is actually quite sobering to realize that we are not immune with our regulations. Even when following all necessary precautions, a 54 year old stagehand, who I assume was highly trained and following regulation protocol, still managed to fall to his death. I couldn't imagine being the colleague working under the stage and hearing that noise, only to find a trusted coworker dead on the ground. It often escapes me that this is truly a construction environment, and that we are just at risk of accident as any other construction worker, if not more so given our extremely tight time constraints to move quickly in and out of venues. I suddenly am no longer inclined to use the tension grid in the chosky like a trampoline, no connection at all, just a hunch.
This is one of my worst fears when it comes to theatre. Safety protocols are so often ignored or not published or practiced when we get comfortable in our roles in the theatre. It breaks my heart to think about the family and friends this man left behind because of a simple, but catastrophic, mistake at work. We do not know too much about the details of what protocols may have been ignored or not made clear enough in the beginning or on this day in question. There is an unfortunate thing that happens with stagehands as they move through their career and become overconfident in their abilities and side-step simple protocols that can protect people from major disaster. I am glad that this is being investigated, so we are able to learn from this mistake. Part of this man’s legacy will hopefully result in further protections and awareness to avoid this mistake in the future.
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