Deadpool 2 movie producers fined $300,000 after stuntwoman death
Vancouver TCF Productions is fined almost $300,000 for failures that contributed to the tragic death of stuntwoman Joi Harris on Deadpool 2 film set
The production company behind the Deadpool 2 film have been fined almost $300,000 for failures that contributed to the death of Joi Harris after she fatally crashed a motorcycle while shooting a scene in the blockbuster movie.
Harris – acting as stuntwoman for the character Domino - lost control of a Ducati Hypermotard while filming at Jack Poole Plaza in Vancouver and went off set before crashing through a window at Shaw Tower.
At the time Harris was not wearing protective headgear when the accident occurred as the character did not wear one in the scene.
The incident was investigated by WorkSafeBC in October 2019, who reported that five factors related to production company TCF Vancouver contributed to Harris’ death, including a lack of safety headgear, a failure to conduct a risk assessment and failed to provide a new worker orientation. The full findings from the report read as below…
- Failure to conduct a risk assessment: TCF failed to conduct a risk assessment addressing safety controls, speed of the motorcycle, and equipment limitations. The employer failed to complete important health and safety documentation, including a stunt safety inspection checklist and a production activity notification checklist, as required by its own health and safety program.
- Failure to provide new worker orientation: TCF failed to ensure that the stunt performer was provided with a new worker orientation and failed to ensure that the stunt performer completed the young and new worker orientation checklist.
- Inadequate workplace set-up and planning: TCF failed to ensure that the workplace was designed with safety controls in place so that the stunt performer or the motorcycle could not proceed beyond the perimeter of the film set. Barriers were absent that should have prevented the stunt performer and motorcycle from leaving the set perimeter.
- Lack of safety headgear: TCF failed to ensure that the stunt performer was wearing safety headgear as required by the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and the motorcycle manufacturer.
- Failure to ensure the health and safety of workers: TCF failed to ensure the health and safety of the stunt performer by failing to provide adequate supervision with respect to this work activity.
As a result of the findings, WorkSafeBC have fined TCF Vancouver Productions to the tune of $289,562.63, a figure calculated the firm’s size, its history of violations and the nature of the violation.
Harris was an experienced motorcyclist, becoming the first African American woman to be licenced as a professional motorcycle racer. She competed in the AMA/MotoAmerica series and founded her own racing team, Threader Racing.
Deadpool 2 is the second film franchise in recent weeks to be called out for practices involving stunt people after Olivia Jackson won a legal case against the producers of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.
Jackson suffered life changing injuries – including her arm being amputated – when the motorcycle she was riding was involved in a high-speed collision with a crane-mounted camera.
