Production company to make changes in wake of ‘Transformers 3’ set accident

CHICAGO
— While the production company behind “Transformers 3” was cleared of
fault in the breakdown that left an extra seriously injured, company
officials assured the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration that they plan to make changes “so this type of accident never happens again.”

The employee in charge of safety for DW Studio Productions “stated he will get together with engineers to construct a device” to prevent mishaps like the one that injured Gabriela Cedillo of Chicago, an IOSHA safety and health officer wrote in a Sept. 24 inspection document.

The production company demonstrated to IOSHA’s
satisfaction that it had the proper safety procedures in place at the
time of the accident, according to the document, which was released to
the Chicago Tribune Thursday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Cedillo’s attorney, who has filed a lawsuit against
the production company on her behalf, said that producers should have
“engineered’ the device and had it in place before filming the scene
that led to his client’s injuries.

“They have admitted they could have, and I say should have, devised a way of preventing this from ever happening,” attorney Todd Smith said on Thursday.

A spokesman for Paramount Pictures, who returned calls to DW Studio, declined comment on IOSHA’s report.

On Sept. 1, Cedillo was driving her Scion at 40-50 mph on a “Transformers 3” set in Hammond, Ind.,
when the cable pulling another car broke loose and smashed through the
windshield of her car, hitting her in the head, according to the IOSHA
report. The cable landed in the back seat of the Scion.

IOSHA cleared the producers of violating any of the agency’s rules.

“The victim was in the wrong place at the wrong
time,” the compliance officer wrote in the inspection document. “As far
as myself as an IOSHA inspector, all I see here is an accident.”

Cedillo was left permanently brain-damaged,
paralyzed on her left side and partially blind, according to the
lawsuit filed against Paramount Pictures, DW Studio and metal
distributor Ryerson Inc. She is undergoing rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Smith said.

The suit alleges that a metal bracket welded to one
of the stunt cars broke loose, leading to the cable striking Cedillo,
Smith said. Ryerson designed the welding used in the stunt, according
to the lawsuit.

The employee in charge of safety for “Transformers 3” declined to comment on Thursday.

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