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Thread: Brad Swet (35) & Brandon Blackmore (27) died after cherry picker falls to the ground in Happy Valley

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    Brad Swet (35) & Brandon Blackmore (27) died after cherry picker falls to the ground in Happy Valley

    https://www.kptv.com/news/people-dea...xtual-fallback

    HAPPY VALLEY, OR (KPTV) ? Clackamas Fire says two people breaking down the Pickathon Music Festival died after a cherry picker fell to the ground in Happy Valley.

    The incident happened at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Pendarvis Farm on Southeast Hagen Road, where the music festival was underway last weekend. The festival ended on Sunday.

    According to the Clackamas County Sheriff?s Office, early reports from the scene were that two arborists had been ascending in a boom lift, also known as a cherry picker, before climbing further up trees to get to ropes holding up a complex shade installation used during the festival.

    They were wearing safety equipment and were roped to the boom lift, which was reportedly positioned on an incline.

    The arborists were about 40 feet in the air when the boom lift tilted and fell, killing them.

    A man who lives across the street says this is leaving a dark shadow over a wonderful event.

    ?All I heard was a boom, lift came over, there were two people in it, it came down 35 to 40 feet, it tipped over,? said Steve Spurlock. ?Those were people who were supposed to go home tonight, they have families. They had plans for the weekend? We have lives to live. We shouldn?t die, especially at work.?

    Deputies along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are now investigating the incident, trying to determine what exactly went wrong, and if there was some kind of equipment malfunction.

    The Medical Examiner?s Office has determined that the two fatalities are likely accidental deaths. Their names will not be released pending family notifications.

    Pickathon Music Festival released a statement on Twitter, which read in part, ?We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of two members of the GuildWorks crew during breakdown of this year's festival. Please join us in offering up prayers and support to their families and friends during this difficult time. All involved in Pickathon are like members of a family to us.?

    Copyright 2019 KPTV-KPDX Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.

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    Pickathon, subcontractor fined for safety violations following deaths of 2 workers (Brad Swet, 35), (Brandon Blackmore, 27)

    https://www.facebook.com/bradley.swet

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/brad-swet...-memorial-fund

    https://www.kptv.com/news/people-dea...xtual-fallback

    HAPPY VALLEY, Ore. — Portland-area music festival Pickathon and a subcontractor have been fined after an investigation by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) determined the two organizations failed to follow safety rules when a boom lift, a four-wheel vehicle with an extension and a basket, fell over and killed two workers.

    The incident happened on Aug. 8, 2019 at Pendarvis Farm, off Southeast Hagen Road in Happy Valley, days after the annual Pickathon festival had ended. The two workers, Brandon Blackmore and Brad Swet, were dismantling event-related hardware and ropes attached to the trees. They were in the basket of the boom lift and 40 feet high when the lift tipped over and killed them, according to the OSHA investigation.

    Pickathon was fined $12,500 while the subcontractor, GuildWorks LLC, was fined $18,500. Both were cited, and fined $12,500 each, for a serious violation because two alarm devices on the boom lift were disabled, OHSA said. One of the devices would sound an alarm warning against operating the machine on uneven terrain. The lift boom was reportedly on an incline when it fell over. The other alarm would stop the upward motion of the basket if an employee became pinned between an overhead construction and the basket’s railing and controls.

    GuildWorks was fined another $6,000 for failing to follow the boom lift manufacturer’s operating and maintenance instructions, which OSHA said included not raising the boom while on an uneven surface and not moving the machine while the boom was extended and while the machine was stationed on a sloped surface.

    “It is an employer’s responsibility to make sure that safety rules are followed for the very purpose of protecting workers from such tragedies,” said Michael Wood, administrator for Oregon OSHA. “This is a time to pause and remember that two people died, leaving behind family and friends. And it is a time to remind ourselves that this accident was entirely preventable.”

    Pickathon founder and director Zale Schoenborn released a statement on Thursday.

    "The tragic loss that the families of Brad and Brandon, Pickathon, Guildworks, and the larger festival community suffered last year was absolutely heartbreaking and continues to shake us to our core. We have always focused on safety with the same passion that we bring to producing the festival experience, and in our twenty-one year history this was our first serious accident. In 2020, we are challenging ourselves to completely redesign and rethink the festival with safety even more at the forefront in an effort to create a whole new Pickathon experience that is closer to nature, closer to the ground, and closer to the audience than ever before."

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    Senior Member KimTisha's Avatar
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    I found this to be a weirdly worded statement:

    In 2020, we are challenging ourselves to completely redesign and rethink the festival with safety even more at the forefront in an effort to create a whole new Pickathon experience that is closer to nature, closer to the ground, and closer to the audience than ever before."
    What does this even mean, closer to the ground? Why, so their employees don't have to fall as far? What an odd thing to say.
    Last edited by KimTisha; 08-08-2020 at 05:42 AM.
    You are talking to a woman who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.
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