Film and Television School fined £17,500
The school, which provides education in film and TV production, was prosecuted for safety breaches that led to the 2008 incident.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the school for not having a safe system in place to prevent falls. It was evident the school did not have adequate management arrangements for the effective planning and execution of the student film it was producing at the time.
The 34-year-old woman was working as a volunteer costume designer for the production. She was attending to an actor's costume before filming, when she fell from an unguarded platform edge at the top of a staircase that formed part of the set.
The woman was critically injured, fracturing vertebrae in her back and was diagnosed with permanent paralysis from the waist down. She has been left in chronic pain.
The HSE investigation found there was no edge protection at the top of the stairs. Actors, carpenters and other students were at risk of falling while carrying out assembly, decoration and lighting work from the staircase.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Rauf Ahmed said:
"A variety of methods can easily be used to prevent people or objects falling on theatre sets, depending on the visual appearance desired. It could be as simple as having edge protection at the end of a platform, or having safety restraint harnesses attached to people.
The organisation was fined £17,500 and ordered to pay costs of £4,787.
Updated on 9/6/2011