Jan. 5, 2018
U.S. Department of Labor Imposes Maximum Fines on Motion Picture Company for Failing to Adequately Protect From Fall Hazards
SENOIA, GA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Stalwart Films LLC for failing to protect employees from fall hazards while filming the television show, “The Walking Dead.”
OSHA issued a serious citation and proposed penalties totaling the maximum allowable fine of $12,675, for the company’s failure to provide adequate protection from fall hazards. OSHA investigated Stalwart’s filming location in Senoia after a stuntman was fatally injured after falling more than 20 feet.
“This tragedy should serve as a wake-up call for the entertainment industry,” said OSHA Atlanta Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer. “The entire industry needs to commit to safety practices for actors and stunt people involved in this type of work.”
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
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.
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OSHA issued the maximum fine allowable for the citation "for the company’s failure to provide adequate protection from fall hazards" following its investigation into John Bernecker's death.
Following the death of 33-year-old Walking Dead stuntman John Bernecker in July 2017, OSHA has imposed the maximum fine allowable in the citation's category against the show's production company, Stalwart Films LLC. The stuntman fell more than 20 feet on the Georgia set of the show July 12.
OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, issued a "serious" citation "for the company’s failure to provide adequate protection from fall hazards" following its investigation into Bernecker's death. The fine for the citation is $12,675.
According to its website, the majority of OSHA citations are listed as "serious," as opposed to "willfull" or "repeat" violations, which are considered more serious.
“This tragedy should serve as a wake-up call for the entertainment industry,” said OSHA Atlanta Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in a statement. “The entire industry needs to commit to safety practices for actors and stunt people involved in this type of work.”
The company now has 15 business days to comply or contest the findings.
In response to the fine, Stalwart Films LLC released the following statement, obtained by THR: "This was a tragic and terrible accident. We take the safety of our employees extremely seriously on all of our sets and comply with — and frequently exceed — industry safety standards. We disagree with the issuance of this citation and are considering our response.”
In addition to OSHA's investigation, SAG-AFTRA announced at the time it was looking into the matter as well.
According to a sheriff's report of the incident, it took almost a half-hour for the medevac to reach Bernecker. The report also stated that prior to his fall, Bernecker had told an actor that he had done “a few” high fall stunts before, but “never this high up” and, per the report, he seemed nervous beforehand.
Bernecker was supposed to fall off of a balcony and on to the collection of pads, boxes and PortaPit pads below, but he missed them by inches. Production on The Walking Dead was halted following his death, but resumed days later on July 17.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, arts, entertainment and recreation is the 12th most dangerous industry in Georgia, with 5.3 nonfatal injuries and illnesses for every 100 workers in 2015, the most recent year with data available. The California rate was 4.6 per hundred.
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How did a seemingly simple 22-foot fall lead to the death of stuntman John Bernecker? Authorities face hurdles: "It's never a black-and-white thing," says an expert.
In the aftermath of the tragic death of 33-year-old stuntman John Bernecker — who died July 12 after plunging headfirst from a balcony on the Georgia set of The Walking Dead — questions abound about how a seemingly simple 22-foot fall ("the ABC of stunts," in the words of one veteran stunt coordinator) could go so horribly wrong.
The case has now been assigned to Capt. John Kennedy, an officer within the Coweta (Georgia) County Sheriff's Office, which, after initially being open about its investigation, has since refused to give materials to the media. A staff member there told THR on July 17 that the office had been instructed to "freeze" all provision of additional materials — no photographs, videos or new reports — per a state law protecting pending investigations.
The Coweta probe will proceed in tandem with two others, led by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and SAG-AFTRA, though the latter does not hire independent investigators.
Right after the incident, local law enforcement faced problems that might complicate further discovery. Deputy Sheriff J.P. Traylor, the first officer on the scene — he arrived at Raleigh Studios in Senoia, Georgia, at 1:47 p.m., a half-hour after the 1:11 p.m. incident — filled out a four-page report that day but was unable to interview stunt coordinator Monty L. Simons as most crewmembers had been sent away within minutes of the accident, according to Traylor's report. It's unclear who asked them to leave the set. (Simons did not respond to an email and call requesting comment, but he was described by veteran stuntman Conrad Palmisano, a former president of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures, as "very qualified, a good guy, focused and competent.")
Nor was Traylor able to interview Walking Dead's first assistant director on the episode (whose name hasn't been made public), the person who generally is responsible for set safety, according to the Directors Guild agreement with studios and producers.
Instead, according to Traylor's report (whose second page has been deliberately withheld pursuant to law, according to a sheriff's clerk), the deputy was able to contact only two of those present: second assistant director Matthew Goodwin and actor Austin Amelio (who plays Dwight on the series), the other performer on the balcony.
Bernecker's girlfriend, Jennifer Cocker — herself a stuntwoman who has worked on such projects as the AMC series Preacher — has questioned Amelio's presence on the balcony on the grounds that it was wrong to have an experienced professional next to a relatively inexperienced actor "who doesn't know what he's doing." (Amelio did not respond to a request for comment.)
John Bernecker/Facebook
Bernecker (left) on the set of Into the Badlands.
Other issues surround the case, including why photos of the scene show a balcony but no padding below, and why it took 17 minutes for an ambulance to reach the stuntman, who subsequently was helicoptered to Atlanta Medical Center. While a fire engine arrived within seven minutes, medevac helicopter Air Life 4 did not evacuate Bernecker until about 30 minutes after the fall. He was declared dead at 6:30 p.m., but remained on life support for several more days.
The tight-knit stunt community (who also are members of SAG-AFTRA) has been devastated by the death, and still remembers other tragedies on the sets of productions including 2002's XXX and 2012's The Expendables 2. AMC and showrunner Scott Gimple issued statements saying they were "deeply saddened."
According to the report by Traylor (who spoke with THR on July 17, after his superiors closed off provision of documents), Bernecker was supposed to fall from the balcony railing onto a pad made of a layer of boxes, PortaPit pads and another large pad, but missed the padding by inches. Traylor's report quotes Goodwin as saying that, after signaling he was ready, Bernecker got most of the way over "but did not appear to get good separation from the balcony." He attempted to abort the fall by grabbing the railing with both hands but failed.
Bernecker, who had accumulated 93 stunt credits in less than a decade of work, was experienced enough that eight of those credits were as a stunt coordinator. In that more senior role, he would have been responsible for designing and prepping stunts and would be a key player responsible for the safety of other stuntmen.
Stunt performers also are responsible for examining the stunt design and demanding changes if necessary, according to multiple stuntmen sources.
Now it remains to be seen whether the investigations will lead to changes in the SAG-AFTRA agreement between studios and the union, whose wording on such matters is vague. "All reasonable requests and requirements for safety equipment in connection with the performance of stunts shall be complied with by Producer," the agreement states, without defining "reasonable."
Production on the eighth season of Walking Dead, cable's top-rated show, was halted immediately after Bernecker's fall, but it resumed July 17, leaving insurers to wrangle over who pays for what. The employer of record is customarily the payroll company, rather than AMC, which produces the series, says HUB Entertainment's Christie Mattull, an insurance broker. Other entities involved might have general liability policies, but AMC may have to cover the costs of the production delay, as cast insurance usually applies only to stars.
No word was made public at press time about funeral plans, though the family had Bernecker's organs donated, according to LifeLink Foundation.
"Something obviously went wrong," says Palmisano, who adds that the cause might ultimately never be known. "It's never a black-and-white thing. It's always a pinch of this, a dash of that, then something tragic happens."
Gene Page/AMC
Amelio on the set of The Walking Dead. This story first appeared in the July 19 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine