OSHA: Circus tent in fatal New Hampshire collapse not erected correctly

CONCORD, N.H. – The circus tent that collapsed in Lancaster during a sudden downdraft of air called a “micro-burst” on Aug. 3, 2015, was not properly erected and the circus operator, Walker International Events, did not follow repeated National Weather Service storm warnings, an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

The collapse killed two audience members and injured dozens of others, including two circus employees,

OSHA inspectors determined that the Florida-based Walker International Events did not erect the tent in accordance with the professional engineer’s design and diagrams. The company’s deviations included failing to:

• Use the required tent stakes.
• Properly anchor the stakes.
• Remove and replace damaged stakes.
• Disassemble and take down the tent amid expected winds exceeding 60 miles per hour.

The events company assembled the tent and began the performance even though the weather service issued seven severe weather and high-wind warnings during the day and preceding the microburst.

“Walker International Events’ failures to erect the tent correctly and heed warnings of severe weather needlessly placed at risk the lives and well-being of its employees and everyone else in and around the tent that day,” said Rosemarie Ohar Cole, OSHA’s New Hampshire area director. “No enforcement action will bring the victims home to their families and community but we want to send a message to this and other employers to follow proper procedures at all times and take effective and appropriate action to prevent an incident such as this from ever happening again.”

OSHA also identified several other hazards that placed circus employees at risk of electric shock, burns, lacerations and struck-by injuries. These included numerous instances of ungrounded or misused electrical equipment; the use of inappropriate electrical equipment and connections in wet areas; lack of eye protection; unmarked exits; and lack of fire extinguishers inside the tent where employees worked with open flames.

As a result of these conditions, OSHA cited Walker International Events on Feb. 4, 2016, for 14 serious violations of workplace safety standards. Proposed fines total $33,800. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The citations can be viewed here.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Concord office at 603-225-1629.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.