Colosseum Has A Second Spill

A backstage worker prepping for Shania Twain’s “Still The One” residency is the second in 14 months to be injured falling into the two-story stage pit at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Matthew Moore broke his arm and suffered neck and head injuries requiring hospitalization after he fell into the 20- by 20-foot loading pit Nov. 19, according to Projection, Lights and Staging News. Twain’s residency opened Dec. 1.

Moore, who lost consciousness until after he’d been admitted to a local hospital, was hired by a subcontractor to help install a wireless mic system and told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he remembers nothing of the accident.

“Everybody was being pretty safe,” he told the paper  “I was getting comfortable with the crew and one day I woke up in a hospital bed.”

A Nevada OSHA investigation is ongoing, but H.C. Rowe, executive director for the Colosseum at Caesars Palace told Pollstar that safety is a topmost concern for the venue.

“All the procedures that we have in place we believe are adequate and sufficient to guard against accidents that may take place on the stage,” Rowe said.

Moore was walking on the stage as the lift was partially lowered when the accident occurred. In addition to ropes and personnel on hand to prevent such accidents, warning bullhorns are used to alert workers on the stage when the pit is open.

An audio subcontractor reportedly fell into the pit, created when a lift in the middle of the stage floor is lowered, in Oct. 2011. He fell 12 feet and shattered his right leg and ankle, according to the Review-Journal.

OSHA inspectors reported safety problems in its investigation and the state reportedly fined AEG Live  which books and manages the Colosseum, $7,600. The fine was subsequently reduced to $5,760, the paper reports.  The Colosseum passed a safety inspection several months later.

Moore told the paper, however, that while he doesn’t remember falling into the pit, he believed “safety was emphasized,” and cites the bullhorn warning when the stage lift is lowered. He said he didn’t recall if a rope stanchion was consistently used.