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.
