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Harrison Ford Could Have Died In Star Wars Set Incident, Court Hears (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader writes: While filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Harrison Ford almost died when he was crushed by a hydraulic door on the set of the Millennium Falcon. He was reportedly knocked to the ground and crushed beneath the heavy door when he walked on to the set not believing it to be live. The 71-year-old actor suffered a broken left leg. Prosecutor Andrew Marshall said the door "could have killed somebody. The fact that it didn't was because an emergency stop was activated," he said. The company responsible, Foodles Production, pleaded guilty to two breaches under health and safety legislation, one count under section two of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which related to a breach of duty in relation to employees, and a second under section three, a breach over people not employed by the company. The lawyer for Foodles Production, which is owned by Disney, said the company would contest the level of risk involved on August 22nd at Aylesbury crown court.
I assume Mr. Ford has not been around enough heavy equipment to that you consider it live unless you can see the lockout.
"Andrew Marshall, prosecuting, said the breaches had caused a “risk of death” and that if the emergency stop had not been pressed in time, it could have been a very different outcome for Ford. “It could have killed somebody. The fact that it didn’t was because an emergency stop was activated,”
The door shot first!
if it hadn't been for the emergency stop.... Hey, kids THERE WAS AN EMERGENCY STOP BUTTON!
On the one hand, a danger on many sets is like a slight danger at summer camp--yes, sometimes people throw things together that work and sometimes people can get hurt. If this were a small budget community theater set that was otherwise safe and an isolated incident it might be understandable.
On the other hand, the Star Wars budget can afford one of those sensors like you have in every modern elevator that stops when someone is still in the door, as well as the guy who knows how to install it. So there is no question that they should be both liable for the medical expenses and fined. (This is how you encourage other people to install the sensor in the future.)
Real lawyers write in C++
I don't know what you're eating, but I've never felt my life was in danger while taking a shit. The well-being of others may have been threatened, but never my own...
I don't know what you're eating, but I've never felt my life was in danger while taking a shit.
T Rex Eats Lawyer on Toilet.
"Never tell me the odds"
When a hydraulic actuator breaks your leg, it's entirely fair to say your life was in danger.
I came to say something like the above, but the AC has summed it up pretty well. I am sorry Harrison Ford was injured but sometimes it takes extreme circumstances to save the rest of humanity from Ford killing any more of our childhood dreams.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
So, two rookie mistakes.
Two Wookiee mistakes.
Thank you, thank you.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
I don't imagine a movie set is any different than any other potentially dangerous work space.
You'd be wrong about that. Actors are special - anything dangerous on set is supposed to have a minder specifically to keep it from hurting an actor, no matter how careless the actor.
all systems should be treated as live until verified otherwise
Remember: movie set. Dangerous items are usually props. The technical guys, sure, it's their job to know, but it's also their job to keep the coked-up airhead starlet safe (and the guy who plays her husband).
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
"New Republic Prosecutor Andrew Marshall said the rail-less walkway over the nearly bottomless pit 'could have killed somebody.' The fact that it didn't was because the writers 'pulled a deus ex machina out of their nether regions.' The engineering firm responsible for the Starkiller's power control station, Foodles Production, pleaded guilty to two breaches under health and safety legislation, one count under section two of the Health and Safety at Work Act of 9624, which related to a breach of duty in relation to employees, a second under section three, a breach over people not employed by the company. The lawyer for Foodles Production, which is owned by Disney, said "AARGHHHH" as he was force-stangled by Disney's newly-revealed CEO, the aforementioned Kylo Ren."
The villains in Force Awakens are depressingly dumb, though.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Something that big and heavy should also have had hidden light curtains or other automated means
Gosh, you think? Maybe they should face criminal charges for not doing just that. Oh wait...they are.
Harrison Ford could have had a brain aneurysm on the set and died, but he didn't. He did however have a large piece of machinery crush his leg. Did this large piece of machinery "almost" crush more vital parts of his body? That depends on whatever your personal threshold for the word "almost" is. Given the proximity of the leg to vital organs in a human body, I don't have a problem with the phrase "almost died". I think I'd prefer "almost killed" because "almost died" seems to imply that he almost died from the injuries he did get, not from the injuries he almost got, but I think that's splitting hairs.
Nope. In this case, they aren't looking at the design of the door, but the guy who pushed "close" while Harrison Ford was under it, and the lack of process to seal off a set while people are building/testing dangerous props. The guy who made the door isn't in trouble, at least as far as the news around this indicates.
Learn to love Alaska
I would rather see Star Peace: The Empire Kicks Back. It's the story of a galactic empire that is well run and all of the people are happy and get along.