The incident occurred around 15 p.m. on Thursday. The man, who is in his 55s, was performing stage work when he fell from a height of about ten metres. His colleagues are said to have been at the scene and will receive support on site on Friday through, for example, psychologist interviews.
"Many employees are in shock. It's a house in shock. We try to take care of each other and work forward in any way possible. This is the worst thing that can happen in a workplace, to lose a colleague and friend," says Fredrik Lindgren, CEO of the Royal Swedish Opera.
Investigates work environment violations
On Friday, the police completed the technical investigation and classified the incident as a work environment crime and causing the death of another. According to Fredrik Lindgren, there are no indications that the incident has any connection to the opera's renovation needs.
"We know that the employee has been on the second balcony, the second ledge above the stage, and for some reason fell out over the stage and fell from a height and hit himself so badly that he has died. There is an ongoing investigation and we await it," he said.
"Have solid safety routines"
According to work environment regulations, fall risks must be carefully controlled, prevented and addressed.
– There are also regulations that state that the employer must have systematic work environment management where they regularly investigate, risk assess and take measures so that no one is injured at work, says Agneta Axelsson, administrator at the Swedish Work Environment Authority.
According to Fredrik Lindgren, it is not possible to say what has been lacking at present, but he emphasizes that the opera has solid safety procedures.
– We inspect and train. This should not be able to happen, it has never happened before. This is a person who has worked with us for a long time and who is very security conscious, it is deeply, deeply tragic, he says.
Due to the event, the Royal Swedish Opera has chosen to cancel all performances and activities until Wednesday next week.