Indiana Accident News

Notre Dame Student Falls From Scissor Lift In High Winds

A school is in mourning and Notre Dame is under investigation by state safety officials after a college student died from a fall while videotaping a football practice on the school’s property.

According to the South Bend Tribune, 20-year-old Declan Sullivan of Long Grove, Illinois was killed when the scissor lift he was standing on toppled over in high winds on the football field in late October. Federal safety regulations state that scissor lifts should not be used in high winds unless a professional has deemed it safe or unless winds screens or personal safety harnesses are in use. At the time of the fatal fall accident at Notre Dame, winds reached gusts of 50 miles per hour and no safety harness or wind screens were used.

The deadly fall accident is now under investigation by the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration, who says that the college has not had any safety violations for at least the last decade. While the investigation has yet to conclude, and while officials do not have a timeline for the investigation, they say that the school could face up to $100,000 in fines for safety violations.

The college says that the scissor lift was rented by United Rentals and a sticker on the machinery confirms that it was inspected by the company in the past. But United Rentals is not taking responsibility for the lift. Those familiar with the scissor lift machinery say that any amount of wind or shaking would have caused an alarm to sound in the lift.

Falls from objects are the second most common cause of worker deaths in Indiana. Falls from scissor lifts and bucket trucks have been the cause of eight on-the-job accidents in the last seven years.

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