A stunt that went wrong on the set of the TV show “L.A.'s Finest” last week, leaving two producers injured, is the latest in a string of incidents that have drawn renewed attention to the dangers of stunt work. It came just days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited a subsidiary of CBS for a stunt-related injury, and after a lawsuit was filed by the widow of a man who worked as a stunt double.
The “L.A.'s Finest” accident, which occurred Thursday on the set of the drama series, involved a stunt with a vehicle. “The vehicle’s trajectory led to a collision with set pieces in the safe viewing area,” said Philip Sokoloski, a spokesman for FilmLA, the official film office for the city and county of Los Angeles. The show is produced by Sony Pictures Television and is set to premiere this spring on Spectrum as the cable provider’s first original series.
The two producers who were injured were transported to two different hospitals in the area for treatment, Sokoloski said. He said that filming scheduled for Friday had been postponed.
The Sony Pictures Television president, Jeff Frost, and co-presidents, Chris Parnell and Jason Clodfelter, said in a statement: “Our hearts go out to our SPT family members who were injured, and we pray for a full recovery.” The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Cal/OSHA, confirmed that it was investigating the accident.
Stunt work is a sometimes dangerous and physically difficult subset of the entertainment industry. In a report in The New York Times in 2017, some stuntmen and women described a macho culture and a “gung-ho mentality.” Safety concerns have been raised for decades, especially after the death of an actor and two children in a helicopter crash on the set of “Twilight Zone: The Movie” in 1982, but there has been little success in efforts toward regulation.
Fatalities are uncommon, although in 2017, a stuntwoman died on the set of “Deadpool 2” and a stuntman died on the set of “The Walking Dead.” Data about injuries on sets are sketchy and unreliable, as are most workplace safety statistics, which largely rely on information self-reported by employers.
But recent regulatory action brought some safety issues to light again: Last week, OSHA cited Eye Productions Inc., a division of CBS, for “failing to protect employees from hazards” in August. A man was injured on the set of “MacGyver” while performing a stunt on a moving vehicle traveling at 18 mph; OSHA said he did not have “adequate head protection.” The proposed penalty is $9,472.
A representative for CBS declined to comment on the citation and the fine.
Also last week, the widow of former football player and stunt double Darryl Hammond filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court that named The Walt Disney Co., Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures as defendants, along with the Arena Football League. The suit claims that while filming movies including “The Longest Yard” and “Invincible,” Hammond, who died in 2017, suffered traumatic head injuries that exposed him to neurodegenerative diseases. It alleges negligence, wrongful death and breach of contract, among other things.
Representatives for Disney and Paramount did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit; a spokeswoman for Sony Pictures Entertainment, of which Columbia Pictures is a subsidiary, declined to comment.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.