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Trustee invited to join the Scott Johnson Working Group
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Saving lives by stopping falls
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On 16 June 2012, Scott Johnson – the only son of the Foundation’s Ken Johnson – died during the construction of a temporary stage for a Radiohead concert at Downsview Park in Toronto. Following the coroner’s inquest on 10 April 2019 into his death as a result of the structure collapsing, the jury recommended that the Government of Ontario should:
“…establish a permanent working group in conjunction with representatives of the live entertainment industry and labour working in the industry, as well as Professional Engineers Ontario. The working group should be funded by Ontario and develop and maintain a fully integrated and consistent approach to the processes involved in the live performance industry, including the construction and use of demountable event structures (also known as temporary performance stages).”
As a result of this recommendation, The Scott Johnson Working Group was established on 22 June 2021 and Ken Johnson – a former safety advisor to the NASC – has been invited to become a member of this working group.
Ken hopes that he can contribute to, and learn from, the work of the group over the next two years. The work is specific to temporary stages in the entertainment industry, but is still ‘temporary works’ where regulations, guidance and training will dominate.
Comments Ken: “The work of this important group will undoubtedly highlight issues that will help inform our own work at height industry. A number of significant errors were made – overloading, delays in submitting drawings, missing components, inadequate or no training, etc – all of which will be taken into account in the drafting of the final document.”
“We must literally get wise before the event, not after it, if we are to keep people safe and avoid similar tragedies in the future.”