The producers of Deadpool 2 have been fined nearly $300,000 for multiple safety violations after stuntwoman Joi "SJ" Harris died on the film's Vancouver set while shooting in 2017.
After finding a list of safety failures on set in October, WorkSafeBC has ruled that TCF Vancouver Productions LTD — a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox — must pay a penalty of $289,562 penalty for failing to provide a safe workplace to Harris during the August 2017 shoot in downtown Vancouver.
Harris — who was performing her first-ever movie stunt — was killed when she was ejected from the motorcycle and crashed through the plate glass window of a nearby building while performing a stunt on the set of the Ryan Reynolds film. Harris was 40 years old.
"The primary purpose of an administrative penalty is to motivate the employer receiving the penalty — and other employers — to comply with occupational health and safety requirements and to keep their workplaces safe," read a statement from WorkSafeBC released on Thursday (May 7).
According to the WorkSafeBC report, TCF was responsible for multiple "high-risk" violations of safety standards. The organization listed five violations of the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation:
● Failure to ensure the health and safety of all workers by failing to identify the hazards and assess and control the risks of the work activity and failing to provide adequate supervision.
● Failure to ensure that the stunt performer complied with the Regulation by wearing safety headgear while operating the motorcycle.
● Failure to ensure the health and safety of the stunt performer by failing to provide adequate supervision with respect to this work activity.
● Failure to provide the stunt performer with a new worker orientation.
● Instructing the stunt performer not to wear safety headgear while operating the motorcycle.
As previously reported, eyewitnesses said Harris completed the Deadpool 2 stunt perfectly four time before crashing through the window on the fifth try. The WorkSafeBC report released in October noted she was an experienced motorcycle racer but had no prior stunt double experience.
In a statement released in October, a 20th Century Fox spokesperson said, "Safety is our top priority, and while we respectfully disagree with some of the report's findings, Fox thoroughly reviewed its stunt safety protocols immediately following the tragic accident and has revised and implemented enhanced safety procedures and enforcement."
Harris was the first-ever African American professional motorcycle road racer.
In an interview with Black Girls Ride magazine in 2015, she said, "I am everything people never saw in this sport.... Sisters on the track are few and far in between. I want to show them that there's more for them to be exposed to. I want to get kids interested through experience."
After finding a list of safety failures on set in October, WorkSafeBC has ruled that TCF Vancouver Productions LTD — a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox — must pay a penalty of $289,562 penalty for failing to provide a safe workplace to Harris during the August 2017 shoot in downtown Vancouver.
Harris — who was performing her first-ever movie stunt — was killed when she was ejected from the motorcycle and crashed through the plate glass window of a nearby building while performing a stunt on the set of the Ryan Reynolds film. Harris was 40 years old.
"The primary purpose of an administrative penalty is to motivate the employer receiving the penalty — and other employers — to comply with occupational health and safety requirements and to keep their workplaces safe," read a statement from WorkSafeBC released on Thursday (May 7).
According to the WorkSafeBC report, TCF was responsible for multiple "high-risk" violations of safety standards. The organization listed five violations of the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation:
● Failure to ensure the health and safety of all workers by failing to identify the hazards and assess and control the risks of the work activity and failing to provide adequate supervision.
● Failure to ensure that the stunt performer complied with the Regulation by wearing safety headgear while operating the motorcycle.
● Failure to ensure the health and safety of the stunt performer by failing to provide adequate supervision with respect to this work activity.
● Failure to provide the stunt performer with a new worker orientation.
● Instructing the stunt performer not to wear safety headgear while operating the motorcycle.
As previously reported, eyewitnesses said Harris completed the Deadpool 2 stunt perfectly four time before crashing through the window on the fifth try. The WorkSafeBC report released in October noted she was an experienced motorcycle racer but had no prior stunt double experience.
In a statement released in October, a 20th Century Fox spokesperson said, "Safety is our top priority, and while we respectfully disagree with some of the report's findings, Fox thoroughly reviewed its stunt safety protocols immediately following the tragic accident and has revised and implemented enhanced safety procedures and enforcement."
Harris was the first-ever African American professional motorcycle road racer.
In an interview with Black Girls Ride magazine in 2015, she said, "I am everything people never saw in this sport.... Sisters on the track are few and far in between. I want to show them that there's more for them to be exposed to. I want to get kids interested through experience."
