Notre Dame 'tower' death. The kid was outside in the wind on a SCISSOR LIFT!!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Notre Dame 'tower' death. The kid was outside in the wind on a SCISSOR LIFT!!

Posted: 10/29/2010 8:33:43 AM EDT

Why do we even bother to send people to college if there isn't enough common sense between a couple hundred or so students, administrators, and coaches that must be on hand during a football practice to get a kid off a damn scissor lift in high winds?

What amazes me most of all is that the kid knew there would be 60MPH wind gusts, felt the instability of the damn platform while recording the practice, and refers to a mobile lift as a 'tower'!! Of course, the writers of the linked article keep referring to it as a tower as well, along with the university athletic director. Are they stupid enough to think that a 4-wheeled mobile lift with no support is actually a tower or are they already trying to reduce liability? Incredibly fucking stupid all around. A god damn scissor lift in a windstorm!!!

http://www.kmtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13404940

From the article:

As a student worker, Sullivan reported to a video coordinator associated with the football team. Swarbrick said the decision to practice outdoors is left up to individual athletic programs.

A workplace safety expert said the lift should never have been used in such blustery conditions.

"Somebody at Notre Dame in supervision or management should have looked at these conditions and said, 'We need to lower this and you need to get out of this scissor lift. It's unsafe for you to be in there,'" said W. Jon Wallace, a workplace safety consultant with Workplace Group LLC, a Chapel Hill, N.C.-based consortium of companies with expertise in occupational health and safety.

Just before the practice began, Sullivan posted Twitter messages in which he said "Gusts of wind up to 60 mph today will be fun at work ... I guess I've lived long enough."

Less than an hour before the accident, he tweeted again, saying it was "terrifying" to be on the tower in the high winds.

Public statement from the university itself:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. –– A strong gust of wind swept across Notre Dame's practice football field before a tower toppled, killing a student who had been videotaping the team from the tower, the university's athletic director said Thursday

Posted: 10/29/2010 8:39:15 AM EDT

[#1]

While working at my former employer's, We had several near incidents with scissor lifts simply by them being parked on uneven terrain. I couldn't imagine being in one of those in 60 mph winds.

Posted: 10/29/2010 8:40:43 AM EDT

[#2]

Notre Dame is going to be paying out a huge settlement.

Saw a report on the news that said it wasn't supposed to be used in wind higher then 25 mph.

Posted: 10/29/2010 8:42:21 AM EDT

[#3]

Yeah, I'd have simply told the administrator in charge to find someone else, hold the practice inside, or get up on the thing himself if he thought it was safe. Most likely, if he had said he wasn't going up in it, they would have told him no problem. I can't imagine a coach forcing someone to go up after being made aware that the risk was on at least someone's mind.

Posted: 10/29/2010 8:48:28 AM EDT

[#4]

I don't know why this is making national news the kid was stupid for staying up there .

ND will pay a huge settlement, but it will be pocket change to them.

Posted: 10/29/2010 8:57:06 AM EDT

[#5]

If you're working with a piece of equipment you need to know its limits. The photographer should have know this and should have been responsible for his own safety. (meaning he should have known to call it quits. Instead of tweating about he should have been getting down.)

I'm guessing no one provided him or anyone associated with operating the lift with safety instructions or training. So that failure will cost Notre Dame.

I'm also guessing all the information need is plastered all over the lift. So not reading it cost the photographer even more.

Posted: 10/29/2010 9:00:05 AM EDT

[#6]

This was stupid all-around.

I've seen those things teeter side to side on completely level ground inside a warehouse.

60mph winds? No way you could get me up in one of those.

Posted: 10/29/2010 9:02:50 AM EDT

[#7]

Notre Dame will pay serious money for this. Between the lawsuit the family will file and the Fines by OSHA this will cost them a large amount of money.

Posted: 10/29/2010 9:33:14 AM EDT

[#8]

Hey dumb ass kid, get off the f-ing phone and push the down button.

GM

Posted: 10/29/2010 9:35:03 AM EDT

[#9]

common sense isnt something required to be a college kid it seems.
no way in hell would i have been up there in the wind

Posted: 10/29/2010 9:36:58 AM EDT

[#10]

Proof that college does not make you smart. Stupid games...

Posted: 10/29/2010 9:37:13 AM EDT

[#11]

You know what is even more dumb. ND has an indoor practice facility.

Posted: 10/29/2010 9:39:32 AM EDT

[#12]

At ASU the towers are all stationary/permanent structures. There are three on the football practice fields and one at the marching band practice field. There used to be permanent structures in the "bubble", or the inflatable indoor practice fields, but they were the cause of the bubble blowing up in a micro burst, so now inside the have scissor lifts. I'm afraid of heights in general, but even if I weren't, I would have quit that job if they wanted me to climb one of those things in a heavy storm.

Posted: 10/29/2010 9:55:13 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
You know what is even more dumb. ND has an indoor practice facility.

Yeah, it really makes me

Posted: 10/29/2010 11:36:50 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
Hey dumb ass kid, get off the f-ing phone and push the down button.

GM

There is a total breakdown in sense and logic here. As someone mentioned, I'm sure there are stickers on that thing recommending against using it in the wind. Even though there are about 20 different hazardous conditions that would preclude using a scissor lift, and as many stickers, it should have given the kid a sense of the instability of the platform in many circumstances. Unfortunately, he made the awful assumption that the adults 'in charge' wouldn't let him use the thing if his life was actually in danger. As has also been mentioned, the lawsuit will be big and probably settled quickly.

Posted: 10/29/2010 11:48:57 AM EDT

[#15]

Lots of failure on this one. The entire chain of command broke down. There were probably a dozen or more people who could have prevented this (including the kid) but didn't.

Posted: 10/29/2010 11:52:03 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
[[/div][div]I'm also guessing all the information need is plastered all over the lift. So not reading it cost the photographer even more.

It is. I won't go up in one over 20mph winds. They aren't that stable to begin with, add a little side force from wind, and bye bye.

They say 25mph is the upper limit, but I'm not risking a big gust if there's already 20mph winds to begin with.

Posted: 10/29/2010 11:53:10 AM EDT

[#17]

The only one ultimately responsible for their own safety is themselves.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Posted: 10/29/2010 11:59:14 AM EDT

[#18]

What major D1 school doesn't have an indoor practice field?

What person tweets "im gonna die at work today" and then proceeds to do what he knows is dangerous?

Who in charge let all this happen?

Whole lot of stupid.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Notre Dame 'tower' death. The kid was outside in the wind on a SCISSOR LIFT!!

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