• 15
  • September
    2011

This hasn't been a good year for safety at outdoor concert venues. In one incident, weather caused a stage to collapse killing a number of people and injuring some 40 others. This past weekend a man at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia suffered a work injury when a tower he was on collapsed.

According to Howard County Fire & Rescue, the 50-year-old man was testing a zip line (one of those cable and pulley attractions designed to deliver a fun ride) that was to be used at the Virgin Mobile FreeFest concert. Officials say he was standing on top of a support tower checking the line out when something went wrong.

An official news release says the tower began to collapse and the worker tried to ride the line down to the ground from a height of about 40 feet. Emergency crews rushed the employee of Zip Line USA to the hospital in Baltimore where he is now listed in stable condition. His injuries are not considered life threatening.

Not surprisingly, organizers of the free outdoor music festival decided to scrub plans for the zip line, determining that it was not safe. Investigators for Maryland Occupational Safety and Health also have been looking into the incident.

It's not clear what caused the tower in this incident to collapse. Hopefully that is something that subsequent investigations will uncover and action can be taken to reduce the risk of such an accident from happening again. That won't stop all worker or personal injuries from occurring, though. When they do, the skills of an experienced attorney can help an injury victim assess what options might be available for just compensation.

Source: The Baltimore Sun, "Crew member injured at Virgin Mobile FreeFest," Erik Maza, Sept. 10, 2011