ARTICLE · 20 AUGUST 2009

Contractor Safety Concerns Highlighted In Madonna Concert Stage Collapse

Norton Rose Fulbright Australia

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This tragic accident serves as a reminder for those operating in event management in the Australian entertainment industry of the criticality of having adequate contractor management systems to ensure compliance with occupational health and safety legislative obligations.

AustraliaEmployment and HR

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Article by Michael Tooma, Alena Titterton and Harriet Oldmeadow

On 16 July 2009 at around 5:15 pm (local time) the roof of a stage that was being built at the 60,000 seater Stade Velodrome in Marseille, France collapsed. Construction workers were building the stage for a Madonna concert to be held on Sunday 19 July 2009, as part of Madonna's latest world tour. Initial reports from fire fighters attending the scene indicate that during the course of construction, four cranes were used to lift the stage into place, at which time the roof of the stage became unbalanced and one of the cranes fell, crashing onto the 60-tonne metal and cable structure below which caused the structure to collapse.

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