‘Star Wars’ company fined €1.8m over Harrison Ford injury

A film production company has been fined £1.6 million (about €1.8 million) for health and safety breaches after Harrison Ford was crushed by a hydraulic door while filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Foodles Production (UK) Ltd was handed the penalty at Aylesbury Crown Court on Wednesday after the Disney-owned company admitted two breaches of health and safety law following the incident. Ford was knocked to the ground and pinned down by a steel door on the set of the Millennium Falcon spaceship.

The actor was reprising his role as Han Solo at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire in June 2014 when he was hit by the door, which had been designed to mimic the action of a door on the set of the original films.

At a previous hearing, the court was told he could have been killed in the incident.

The Health and Safety Executive said the power of the rapidly closing door meant Ford was hit with a force comparable to the weight of a small car.

Judge Francis Sheridan said the firm had failed to communicate its risk assessment to Ford.

“If only they had included Mr Ford in all the discussions,” the judge said, “he might have at least been alert to the dangers that he had to avoid.”

– (PA)