(NY Labor Dept) 2 Safety Violations for ‘Spider-Man’ (Musical)

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Source: The New York Times

The New York State Department of Labor has issued two safety violations against the Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” over accidents last year that involved an actor falling more than 20 feet during the show and two other performers sustaining injuries while rehearsing a sling-shot technique, a state official familiar with the violations said Saturday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the state agency had not authorized public release of the findings, said that no financial penalties had been levied. Rather, the musical’s producers are required to continue following safety protocols that were put in place in December after Christopher Tierney, one of several actors who play Spider-Man, fell from a platform into a basement beneath the stage and broke four ribs and a shoulder blade, fractured three vertebrae and suffered a hairline skull fracture. Mr. Tierney is undergoing physical rehabilitation.

State safety officials would perform unannounced inspections of the production for the foreseeable future, as they had this winter, the official said. If any safety measure was not followed, the official added, the inspectors were authorized to withdraw variances issued last year allowing aerial sequences of actors playing Spider-Man and the villains Green Goblin and Arachne flying over the audience.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/nyregion/13spiderman.html