Deadpool 2 producers fined $289,000 for safety failures linked to stunt performer Joi Harris' death
The Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia handed down a $289,562 fine to the producers of 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool 2 today, citing their failure to “provide a safe workplace” for stunt performer Joi Harris, who died on the movie’s set on August 14, 2017 after a motorcycle stunt went wrong. WorkSafeBC—a regulatory group roughly equivalent to OSHA in the U.S.—cited five violations of Canada’s Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation discovered during investigations of the accident:
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.
Harris, a former motorcycle road racer, was standing in for Zazie Beetz’s character Domino when the accident occurred; because she was a recent addition to the film’s crew, there was reportedly no helmet available that would fit under the wig she was wearing to match Beetz’s hair in the film. The movie was Harris’ first job as a stunt performer. She was 32.
Per Deadline, the regulatory agency made it clear that the purpose of these fines was “to motivate the employer receiving the penalty—and other employers—to comply with occupational health and safety requirements and to keep their workplaces safe.”