$80K in fines for Indiana State Fair stage collapse that killed 7
February 10, 2012 by Fred HosierPosted in: construction safety, Fatality, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, State OSHAs
PDF The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (IOSHA) has fined three organizations in connection with the deadly stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair that killed seven people and injured more than 40 others.
IOSHA says the stage scaffolding wasn’t properly erected and soil conditions weren’t considered at key anchor points.
Mid-America Sound Corp., the company that owned the scaffolding and supervised its construction, was fined $63,000 for three “knowing” (equivalent of the federal category “willful”) violations:
- Did not develop and implement an operations management plan for building the stage rigging; did not prepare proper layout drawings and engineering documentation; did not develop a risk assessment plan; did not conduct periodic inspections with documentation; did not keep records for each structural component.
- Did not provide cross-bracing as recommended; did not take into consideration soil conditions at the location; did not designate a competent person to build the structure.
- Did not have engineering calculations, design notes and test results for the structure; did not have adequate knowledge of the engineering documentation; did not take into consideration weights of all equipment on the structure.
The International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Local 30, which provided workers to set up the stage, was fined $11,500 for four violations, including failure to require the head rigger to take into account soil conditions at the location.
The State Fair Commission was fined $6,300 for failure to conduct an adequate life-safety evaluation and plan prior to the event.
The Fair Commission said it probably won’t contest the findings, but Mid-America and the union sharply criticized IOSHA’s report.
On Aug. 13, 2011, the stage was hit by a blast of wind right before the country music duo Sugarland was about to perform. Winds were estimated at more than 40 m.p.h.
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Tags: Indiana State Fair, IOSHA, stage collapse, State Fair Commission, Sugarland
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February 10th, 2012 at 9:49 am
How long was the structure up before the incident? How many shows went on before the incident? The storm caused the accident. Can OSHA be so sure that if all the so called faults they fined those businesses for were followed that the storm wouldn’t have tookin it down? It was just an unfortunate accident. What I applaud is seeing all those people jumping into action to halp save the others from further injury.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
An outdoor stage collapse at only 40 mph winds? Over the past couple of years stages have been collapsing I do not remember this happening at all when I was younger.
It was impressive how the other concert goers helped…………That sort of restore’s some of my confidence in my species.
February 15th, 2012 at 12:29 pm
It doesn’t matter if the stage would or would not have collapsed due to the violations OSHA found. There was an incident that OSHA investigated. Violations were found. Period.
OSHA really is not concerned with whether or not the violations would have prevented the injuries. They are the administration that enforces compliance with a set of laws (the OSH act). Period.
As to why stages collapse more now: They are all portable systems now, and are MUCH more elaborately designed than they were 30 years ago. Stages at fairs when I was a child were usually flat bed trailers. it was simple. Grandstands were wooden bleachers. There might have been trusses for lighting. Now everything looks like some kind of modern sculpture and is set up and taken down in a matter of minutes. Whole seating sections are assembled on site and rented for the show.
February 15th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Ryan, Your telling me that if OSHA went to investigate a stage at a show, which was a flat bed truck, that they could fine them for the same violations as the one we are discussing? The way your saying OSHA doesn’t care about violations preventing incidents makes me think they are not in it for safety issues, just the money. You know because a 40mph wind may blow someone off that flat bed stage.
February 15th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
My comment was regarding over the past few years there have been many more of these incidents. There were many outdoor shows in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s where there were storms and there was no problem with the stages. Perhaps there were and no one got hurt or they were so minor as to not been reported but it seems that as of 2000 these incidents have become more and more evident. It is awful that anyone going to a fair or to a show should be put in danger, that same fair had rides including a Ferris Wheel that did not collapse. That is the point of my comment. What OSHA found implies carelessness in the stages construction and maybe this is the first major case where folk got killed.
No OSHA is not there to fine on violations it is there to enforce safety standards in a case like this they investigated after a major incident and the fines are actually warnings to do things right. I have been through OSHA inspections and fortunately we came away with a clean bill of health but that is because we consider Safety a priority in all areas of our operations.
No one should go to a professional party, fair, or show and be severely injured or die from bad construction. It is mind boggling to not build an outdoor stage and take into account winds or the condition of the ground in our heartland. To me that is inexcusable.
The people that were hurt died and their families have my deepest condolences and prayers. I truly hope this is something all can learn from. Even if it is just the builders and operators not wanting to pay the fines, on a bigger level it needs to be realized something very precious has been violated and lost.
February 15th, 2012 at 4:26 pm
I think you both sort of misunderstood what I was saying. OSHA inspects to find violations. Those violations May, or may not, have any real bearing on preventing future incidents. The way I have always looked at it is there is proper safety/risk mgmt, and then there is OSHA compliance. Think of it as a vinh diagram. Those two points may overlap but it may not be by design necessarily. OSHA will never say something is safe:they will only say that they didnt find any violations, and one inspector may not find anything, and another may say it is the worst place he has seen in years, and there is no recourse.
I was also making the point that the stages are all portable, complicated, third party things that are different than the simple and sturdy stages and bleachers of the past.