By Carolyn Rummel
As we commemorate Workers Memorial Day April 28, we might want to take note of the number of deaths that have taken place on at least five movie or television productions in just the last 12 months.
Jim Engh, 38, a grip working on TV's "The X Files" died July 30, 2000 when a metal rod he was holding touched a live power line, electrocuting him.
Will Gaffney, a 29-year-old stand-in for actor David Morse in the Russell Crowe-Meg Ryan movie Proof of Life, was thrown from a truck April 9 on the Quito, Ecuador set and killed when the driver lost control of the vehicle on a narrow dirt road and it tumbled some 450 feet into a gorge.
Chris Lamon, a stuntman for eight years was killed Aug. 18, while doing a stunt for the Steven Seagal movie, Exit Wounds. Lamon was supposed to jump and roll away from an upside-down van being towed by a truck. For some reason, when he jumped out of the van, he flipped and landed on his head. He died five days later.
Paul Trachtenberg, 42, a scenic artist on Planet of the Apes, died Oct. 30 after falling from a lift while painting a backdrop.
In March of this year, Tim Holcombe, 45, a welder working on Spider-Man, was killed by falling debris when a crane hauling a metal framework toppled.
Gaffney's widow has filed suit against Castle Rock Entertainment and Warner Bros. studios, saying they were negligent in hiring local worker Alvaro Valencia Yepez to drive a truck "in an unreasonably dangerous condition."
The front tires were bald, the emergency brake didn't work and the clutch and steering mechanism were in poor working condition, according to Gaffney's suit. Additionally, the suit said, "The road had no railings or protective barriers from the drop-offs."
Gaffney was an English teacher who lived in Quito with his wife, also an English teacher. He volunteered to work as a stand-in when shooting began in the area.
An investigation into Engh's death resulted in the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health fining Fox $41,400 for various violations, one of the biggest judgments ever against a studio. CalOSHA ruled that Fox did not adequately provide training on the equipment and failed to have the power lines turned off.
Hollywood unions keep their own statistics on injuries but there is no industry-wide recordkeeping. However, CalOSHA statistics reveal that from 1994 to 1998, 25 movie and TV workers died on the job (eight in 1997) and injuries increased from 4,200 to 8,500. There was also an increase in the number of employees, but it was proportionately smaller.
Most stunts are performed by "trained professionals who have gone to great lengths to insure that, when the job's done, they walk away," Entertainment Weekly magazine noted in their March 30 issue. "Sure, bruises, scratches, and cuts are to be expected. Twisted ankles, bad backs, broken bones - these, too, are not unusual, especially if you're a member of Jackie Chan's stunt team. But death? It's just not supposed to happen."