three violations of NRS and Nevada OSHA General Industry Standard 1910. Mother of 2 young children
On the evening of June 29, 2013, when Sarah Guillot-Guyard, 31, an acrobat who was playing one of the Spearmen, fell upward at the end of the battle, several things went wrong. It would take a long time before anyone began to assemble a full picture of what those several things were. But as she was making her exit, at 10:59 P.M., the wire rope that kept her safe was severed.
Each warrior is played by an acrobat who wears a harness attached to a wire rope. The wire runs up to a complex configuration of equipment that enables the performer to leap, twist, flip, and fly while chasing others back and forth—that is, up and down the length of the vertical stage.
In 2006, while working on another Cirque show, Heath had discovered that Kà was using a certain kind of wire rope to lift people—despite the fact that several manufacturers explicitly warned against using it for such a purpose. This knowledge tortured Heath. He had spent years waging a lonely battle to persuade Cirque, without success, to use a different rope. He finally gave up and left the company.
The wire rope was severed due to the rapid ascent of the performer, ultimately causing the rope to be freed from the sheave/pulley and scraping against a shear point.
Officials have cited Cirque du Soleil Nevada, Inc. with six proposed citations for violations of Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS), Nevada OSHA General Industry standards, and Recordkeeping Standards 1901 and 1904.
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino was also issued citations for three violations of NRS and Nevada OSHA General Industry Standard 1910.
