Sugarland Disaster Case Study

After investing the stage collapse, the engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti found that the cause of the accident was due to poor construction. A poor emergency response to the weather threat is what caused the death and injuries of the Sugarland concert goers (13 WTHR.com, 2012). They found that if the stage had been up to code it would have withstood winds greater than 60-70 miles per hour. Witt Associates found that the disaster plan did not work due to the lack of disaster preparation and emergency response, and a bad chain of command greatly added to the problem. The Indian Department of Labor had the pretty much the same founding: that no inspection of the rigging, problems with the structure support and no one in charge to make a decision when it came to public safety (Chapman, 2012)

Once Cynthia Hoye was aware of a weather issue she asked Sugarland to delay the show but, the band tour manager, Helen Rollins convinced the band to keep their schedule (Chapman, 2012). They also mentioned that Ms. Hoye asked both Sugarland and Ms. Rollins to delay due to weather but Ms. Rolling who was monitoring the weather said, “it is only rain: we can play.” Ms. Hoye has tried to resign her position but her resignation was not accepted. New laws are now in place requiring a stage inspection before a concert by the Indiana

The class-action lawsuit was won on the grounds of failed safety standards and an insufficient emergency plan by the state fair. The victims and their families received a total of $39 million in damages. Mid- American Sound Corp agreed to pay a $50,000 and increase safety training for their employees to create a safe work environment for their workers (Evans, 2014). The company created a management plan for future stage erections and expanded training for current employees and will train new employees on the new