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 LIVE
TRUCK SAFETY UPDATE
By Dave Putnam
On the two-year anniversary of the tragic accident that took
place in Los Angeles involving two employees of KABC-TV's news
department and a Los Angeles policeman, television newspersons
throughout the state are waiting for the Cal OSHA Standards
Board to implement the proposed Title
8 Article 40 Safety Orders.
These orders are a direct result of a combined effort put forth
by broadcast labor unions representing both behind the scene
photographers and technicians along with on-air reporters following
the May 22, 2000 accident. KABC-TV reporter Adrienne Alpert
suffered severe physical injuries that resulted in partial amputation
of a leg and arm along with fingers and toes from the remaining
limbs when she attempted to exit a newsvan that had come in
contact with a high voltage power line. Photographer/technician
Heather MacKenzie had unknowingly parked the vehicle on un-level
ground causing the truckâ??s microwave mast to deploy at an
angle. Due to a misjudgment of distances on MacKenzie's part
the antenna at the top of the mast made contact with the live
powerline and energized the vehicle.
A meeting of the Cal OSHA Standards Board took place in a hearing
room at a State of California office building in San Diego last
Thursday (May 16). At this meeting, representatives of AFTRA,
IBEW, and NABET-CWA and employees of two Los Angeles television
stations gave oral testimony urging the board to adopt the orders
as soon as possible. Noted industry safety information specialist
Mark Bell also spoke before the board and
congratulated them on taking a leadership role for their consideration
of the proposed rules. All speakers noted that the process so
far had been a smooth one as both labor and management are in
agreement and have worked together with safety experts from
outside broadcasting, television equipment manufacturers and
news vehicle integrators to come up with the common sense rules.
Management representatives from ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox networks
were also present at the meeting but did not speak before the
board. These networks own stations in several California television
markets.
The standards board also received written testimony from over
100 people not in attendance at the meeting according to an
article the Los
Angeles Times. Included in this written testimony
was a petition urging the board to adopt the rules signed by
KABC-TV's ENG employees.
The Times article also noted that the board had received protests
from broadcast companies regarding quarterly safety inspections
of vehicles and instead suggested that the inspections take
place on a annual basis instead.
About the Author
Dave Putnam has been an employee of KABC-TV since 1981. He wears
many hats
there including SNG, ENG, studio/field maintenance, transmission
engineer and
sometimes he has been known to edit news spots when there is
nobody else
available. He was a recipient of a National Emmy for ABC-TV's
technical team
coverage of the 1989 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada,
a local Emmy
and Los Angeles Press Club Award for his part in KABC-TV's coverage
of the
'92 riot in Los Angeles. He has covered the '89 Loma Prieta,
'92 Landers and
'94 Northridge earthquakes, the criminal and civil trials of
O.J. Simpson and
numerous other news stories during his 21 years at KABC-TV.
Before moving to
Los Angeles, he worked for the ABC-TV affiliate KATU in Portland,
OR and
while there he covered the eruption and aftermath of the Mt
St. Helens
volcano. Dave is a member of the NABET-CWA Local 57 E-Board
in Burbank, CA |
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