State to Act on Stage Collapse Report

You can access the reports by clicking here.

April 12, 2012

Governor Mitch Daniels statement on stage collapse reports

“I don’t think we could have done better than these two world renowned firms. I thank them for their thorough and professional work.

“The State Fair Commission knows that we will insist on immediate and complete implementation of the recommendations in this report. But it’s also now clear that most, if not all states, have been deficient in this area and have much to learn from this tragedy. We will share freely all these findings and suggestions with any state who will listen, starting later this month at a national meeting in Indianapolis about national safety standards for outdoor temporary stages and structures. The meeting is being hosted here because of the State Fair accident.

“We’d give anything to have that night over, but occasionally something positive can come out of terrible tragedy, and we have to do all we can to make that happen here.”

April 12, 2012

News Release

Indianapolis, Ind. -- Today members of the Indiana State Fair Commission listened to presentations from independent assessment firms Witt Associates and Thornton Tomasetti. Both firms shared their findings and recommendations from nearly eight months of investigation into the structural failure of the stage trusses that collapsed on Aug. 13, 2011, and the decision-making and emergency preparedness of state fair and public safety officials. Seven people were killed in the collapse, and a reported 40 more were injured.

Immediately following the meeting, the commission posted the full reports and executive summaries to the ISFC website at www.in.gov/sfc

Commission Chairman Andre Lacy reflected on the reports at a news
conference following the meeting. “Our focus now is to have in place a
public safety protocol, meeting the highest standard, and to learn what we can from these independent investigative reports so we can do everything in our power to make the Indiana State Fairgrounds stronger and better as we move forward into the future,” Lacy said. “We owe that to those lost and injured, and their families that must continue forward as well.”

Lacy shared a number of changes the fair organization would begin pursuing immediately:

* Implement the recommendations from the Witt and Thorton Tomasetti reports, from code compliance and inspections to comprehensive public-safety plans in conjunction with community public-safety partners.

* Hiring a chief operations officer primarily responsible for the
day-to-day implementation of the Witt and Thorton Tomasetti
recommendations, and drive public-safety forward.

* Establish a risk-assessment practice and expectations that will be
set and monitored by the commission.

* Use the IOSHA report to further the protection of employees.

The commission said it will share the reports broadly with others across
the state and beyond.

Executive Director Cindy Hoye will remain as staff leader of the
commission. "Cindy has offered to resign on many occasions, but I want her to see this through," Lacy said, putting the responsibility of ambiguity of
authority squarely on the shoulders of the commission. "It is our
responsibility to provide the executive director with proper direction and authority."

"These investigations were never initiated as a means of placing blame," Lacy said. "Rather, we put ourselves willingly and openly – and publicly – under the microscope so that we could learn all that we can, and apply that learning to avoid a tragedy like Aug. 13 from ever happening again."