Luckymommyx2
Wishing you a magical day
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2002
- Messages
- 10,770
Sad to say I had almost forgotten this incident. This is from the Orlando Sentinel this morning....
Disney fined in worker's death
Disney was not enforcing its rules when a worker was killed, OSHA said.
By Barry Flynn | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted August 12, 2004
Walt Disney World was not enforcing its own safety regulations when a costumed worker was killed during a February parade, a federal safety official said Wednesday.
Disney was cited for a single serious violation of the federal workplace safety rules in the incident, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said. But an OSHA official said employees often violated the company's safety guidelines and supervisors did not enforce the rules.
"There was an issue where employees were frequently in an area where they shouldn't have been," said Les Grove, director of OSHA's Tampa office.
Javier Cruz, 38, a father of two and an eight-year employee, was run over by a float during the daily afternoon "Share a Dream Come True" parade at the Magic Kingdom on Feb. 11. Costumed as the character Pluto, Cruz was in a backstage area near Frontierland and about to enter a public area of the park when the accident occurred.
Because of conflicting witness accounts, investigators could not be sure whether Cruz was between the closely parked floats in the backstage area or just too close to the side of one at the time of the accident, Grove said.
In either case, Cruz was in a forbidden area, the kind of violation of the company's safety plan that Disney supervisors often ignored, Grove said.
A business agent for Teamsters Local 385, Donna-Lynne Dalton, said Cruz was trapped between the second and third sections of a three-part trailered float and run over by the third section, far from the limited view of the driver in the front section. Local 385 represents about 1,200 costumed workers at Disney.
Since the accident, Disney has tried to eliminate dangerous situations during parades, including discontinuing the use of trailered floats in daytime parades, Dalton said. "They have taken this seriously; They did not wait for OSHA to make a ruling."
Immediately after the accident, Disney officials said they would not provide details of the circumstances because the accident was under investigation.
On Wednesday, spokeswoman Veronica Clemons would not respond to questions. Instead, the company issued a written statement that said, in part: "We plan to review our safety measures with OSHA to make sure we meet our mutual objective of providing a safe work environment for our cast members."
Disney was fined $6,300 for the single offense and has 15 business days from the issuance of the citation Tuesday to contest it. The maximum fine for the single offense is $7,000, but Disney got a 10 percent reduction because it had a good safety record, OSHA's Grove said.
Barry Flynn can be reached at bflynn@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5240
Disney fined in worker's death
Disney was not enforcing its rules when a worker was killed, OSHA said.
By Barry Flynn | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted August 12, 2004
Walt Disney World was not enforcing its own safety regulations when a costumed worker was killed during a February parade, a federal safety official said Wednesday.
Disney was cited for a single serious violation of the federal workplace safety rules in the incident, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said. But an OSHA official said employees often violated the company's safety guidelines and supervisors did not enforce the rules.
"There was an issue where employees were frequently in an area where they shouldn't have been," said Les Grove, director of OSHA's Tampa office.
Javier Cruz, 38, a father of two and an eight-year employee, was run over by a float during the daily afternoon "Share a Dream Come True" parade at the Magic Kingdom on Feb. 11. Costumed as the character Pluto, Cruz was in a backstage area near Frontierland and about to enter a public area of the park when the accident occurred.
Because of conflicting witness accounts, investigators could not be sure whether Cruz was between the closely parked floats in the backstage area or just too close to the side of one at the time of the accident, Grove said.
In either case, Cruz was in a forbidden area, the kind of violation of the company's safety plan that Disney supervisors often ignored, Grove said.
A business agent for Teamsters Local 385, Donna-Lynne Dalton, said Cruz was trapped between the second and third sections of a three-part trailered float and run over by the third section, far from the limited view of the driver in the front section. Local 385 represents about 1,200 costumed workers at Disney.
Since the accident, Disney has tried to eliminate dangerous situations during parades, including discontinuing the use of trailered floats in daytime parades, Dalton said. "They have taken this seriously; They did not wait for OSHA to make a ruling."
Immediately after the accident, Disney officials said they would not provide details of the circumstances because the accident was under investigation.
On Wednesday, spokeswoman Veronica Clemons would not respond to questions. Instead, the company issued a written statement that said, in part: "We plan to review our safety measures with OSHA to make sure we meet our mutual objective of providing a safe work environment for our cast members."
Disney was fined $6,300 for the single offense and has 15 business days from the issuance of the citation Tuesday to contest it. The maximum fine for the single offense is $7,000, but Disney got a 10 percent reduction because it had a good safety record, OSHA's Grove said.
Barry Flynn can be reached at bflynn@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5240
