A 31 year male old rigger fell 35 feet to his death in Phoenix. Early stories said he fell from a stage, but later stories say he fell off of the arch structure below while doing preparation work for the 2015 Super Bowl. There are very few details at this point, they haven't even released his name. The police say it was not a criminal act and that they will be releasing no further information as it's now a closed investigation by the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
As a side note, while reading about this, I've read/heard the same somewhat odd definition of a rigger on multiple news outlets. "He specialized in moving large heavy objects high above the ground". While yes that's part of what a rigger does, there's a lot more to it than just moving heavy things. In fact much of the time, riggers don't want heavy things to move at all. Weird. I bet they all just looked up rigger on Wikipedia.
Retired now, but looking back- How many times have we paused for a second, looked down and thought, "My God, what am I doing up here?" You can't think of it for more than a passing second but especially on outdoor builds there is very little room for even the slightest mistake. I think back to the 70's and 80's when there were very few (enforced) regulations and thank God I lived. Recently, my wife quit her job and retired. She was in retail sales, had recently had a heart attack. They were asking her to climb a 12 foot ladder and change ceiling lights. They told her it was now part of her job. Didn't blink an eye when she told me as I don't blame her. 35 sounds like a small number, yet statistics show that a flat fall off a six foot ladder has a 50% mortality rate. My prayers are with this person and their family.
Good points, JD. The last OSHA report I saw (and this was more than 4 years ago...but I'm sticking with it), stated that 80% of all falls reported in the workplace over 6 feet were fatal. Our thoughts do indeed go out to the family and friends of the deceased worker. And like I've ranted before: it's a job, it's not worth your life. Think, train, and if you have any doubts- don't do it.
I'm always reminded of my time working as a cable monkey at a phone company in my high school days and falling out of a drop ceiling off a 10' ladder. At the time I thought nothing of it and shook off the large contusion on my thigh as a battle scar, but looking back and seeing the OSHA data on falls 6'+, it scares the heck out of me. I share that with my students when we start talking about taking care at heights. About 90% of them end up with a healthy fear/respect of height and do fine, but I worry about the ones that get super-confident in their own abilities and take chances.
RIP Ryan “Scrappy” Lipman
It has been widely posted since yesterday that we lost another member of our Crew Family due to an accident at the Super Bowl Site in Arizona.
There have been many stories posted around, however those that loved him and were close to him wanted the truth to get out so everyone would understand what really happened.
Ryan “Scrappy” Lipman from Phoenix, Arizona, was a rigger and was working on rigging for the Super Bowl when he had a diabetic medical issue and fell approximately 25 feet. Scrappy had already passed out before he fell and never regained consciousness and slipped away.
Apparently he seemed fine earlier during the day but after a few hours working up in the air he started acting erratically. Normally, Ryan was very safe and wore his PPE including hardhat, harness, lanyards and more, which he was wearing at the time of the fall.
However, due to his not thinking clearly and perhaps not feeling well, he was not taking his normal precautions. He WAS wearing a harness and a double lanyard however he wasn’t clipping in. Apparently he wanted to come down and while about half way down he passed out and fell the rest of the way, which was approximately 25 feet. Those on the scene thought he had potentially just broken a few bones and gotten pretty banged up but would be back to himself soon. Sadly, even with immediate Medical attention, he slipped away.
His Family is setting up an online Fundraiser, which I will post the link to as soon as it is made available, as well as any Final Arrangement information. Please keep Scrappys Family, Friends, Loved ones and Crew Family in your thoughts and prayers during this sad and difficult time. Please know that Scrappy was a strong believer in safety being [HASHTAG]#1[/HASHTAG] ALWAYS and keep that in mind when you go to work no matter what your gig is. He would want to you to take whatever precautions possible to stay safe and go home at the end of the show. Do it for Scrappy but most importantly, do it for yourself. We have lost too many and don’t want to lose anyone else.
As a side note, while reading about this, I've read/heard the same somewhat odd definition of a rigger on multiple news outlets. "He specialized in moving large heavy objects high above the ground". While yes that's part of what a rigger does, there's a lot more to it than just moving heavy things. In fact much of the time, riggers don't want heavy things to move at all. Weird. I bet they all just looked up rigger on Wikipedia.
@cmckeeman It seems like every time one of these happens, someone around CB knows the person and that makes the whole thing more real and a lot closer than just a name on a page.
my uncle a mechanic for a trucking company had a fall off a 6' ladder. spiral fracture in the leg. Underwent some sort of reconstructive surgery, picked up a staph infection at the hospital, the leg never fully healed, after a number of procedures to save the leg it had to be amputated five years after the fall.
