Star Wars Firm Fined £1.6m Over Harrison Ford Injury
BBC 13 October 2016
A film production company was on Wednesday fined £1.6 million ($2 million, 1.75 million euros) over an accident on the set of the latest Star Wars movie in which the actor Harrison Ford broke his leg.
Prosecutors said Ford, then 71, was pinned to the ground by a metal hydraulic door after it broke during filming of the blockbuster film at Pinewood Studios west of London in June 2014.
It acted like a "blunt guillotine", coming down "millimetres from his face" as the actor passed underneath, pinning him by the pelvis to the ground, prosecutor Andrew Marshall told the court, adding that the door was "capable of killing one or possibly two people".
US actor Harrison Ford attends the opening of the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in central London on December 16, 2015 İLeon Neal (AFP/File)
The actor was injured in June 2014 at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire as he reprised his role as Han Solo.
He was struck by a metal door on the set of the Millennium Falcon spaceship.
Foodles Production (UK) Ltd, owned by Disney, pleaded guilty earlier this year to two charges brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Following the incident during the filming of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mr Ford was airlifted to hospital for surgery.
The Hollywood superstar was reprising his role as Han Solo for the film when he was hit by the door, which had been designed to mimic the action of spaceship on the original set.
'Lack of Communication'
At a previous hearing, the court was told the star could have been killed in the incident.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the power of the rapidly-closing door meant Ford was hit with a force comparable to the weight of a small car.
Judge Francis Sheridan said the firm had failed to communicate its risk assessment to Ford.
He said: "The greatest failing of all on behalf of the company is a lack of communication, a lack because, if you have a risk assessment and you do not communicate it, what is the point of having one?
"That is the most serious breach here.
"If only they had included Mr Ford in all the discussions, he might have at least been alert to the dangers that he had to avoid."
The door was designed to be remotely closed by a special effects operator, who shut it upon a signal from a spotter.
Ford needed surgery to screw together the fractured tibia and fibula bones in his left leg and plastic surgery on a "deep laceration" to his left hand.
Charles Gibson, who defended Foodles Production (UK), admitted there was a "failure in communication" between the production team and Ford.
"This was an innocent mistake by bona fide professionals," he told the court in Aylesbury northwest of London.
"Lessons were learned. The good health and safety record of this production continued to the end."
Judge Sheridan said the remote operation of the door by someone who could not see the actor going through it was a "crazy approach" to health and safety.
"Had the wrong button been pressed it would have continued to crush down on Mr Harrison Ford. It's just incredible that so much was left to chance."