Disneyland Cited for 36 Violations of Worker Safety Rules by OSHA

Disneyland was cited for numerous safety violations and ordered to improve its safety program after a seven-week examination by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration of safety conditions affecting workers at the park.

The inspections, prompted by complaints from workers, resulted in citations for 13 serious safety violations and 23 less serious health and safety violations, OSHA officials said. The park was ordered to pay more than $6,000 in fines.

The violations do not involve direct threats to public safety but deal with conditions behind the scenes of such major attractions as Big Thunder Mountain and It’s A Small World, where employees work around elaborate sets.

The inspections were conducted in October and November of 1987, and Disneyland was cited and fined in December. The most recent follow-up inspection was conducted March 22. The park “appeared to be complying with all requirements” ordered after the inspections, said Tom Marple, OSHA’s acting deputy regional administrator.

However, initial inspections revealed “substantial problems” in working conditions, said George Godzak, OSHA safety supervisor.

“Most of the problems had to do with maintenance personnel and their working conditions,” Godzak said.

“One of the biggest problems was openings in the floors and on platforms that were not guarded to prevent people from falling. We also told them to improve their safety program, mostly that their own inspection department better recognize hazards.”

Among the serious violations:

- At Big Thunder Mountain, a fixed stairway was not provided for access down the mountain’s left side.

- In several areas of the attic at It’s a Small World, employees working on catwalks had to climb over rails to get to adjacent runways.

- In two buildings at the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, employees working on a platform had to climb over the top rail or through a guardrail to reach exits.

- In the submarine ride, employees working on emergency batteries did not have emergency eye washes available in case of chemical burns.

- At the top of the falling rock area of Big Thunder Mountain, floor holes were not guarded.

- In an attic of It’s a Small World, parts of a motor used to lift props were not guarded to prevent employees from being caught in the machinery.

Less serious violations were found behind the sets at It’s a Small World, where electrical boxes protruded through the floor and aisles and pathways were not maintained. And at Big Thunder Mountain, near the falling rock area, bird droppings were allowed to accumulate on ladders, catwalks and railings, creating unsanitary conditions.

OSHA guidelines define serious violations as those where a “subtantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result.” Violations other than serious are defined as posing a threat to employee safety and health but unlikely to cause death or serious injury.

The guidelines propose a mandatory penalty of up to $1,000 for each serious violation, but the penalty can be adjusted downward based on several factors, including the employer’s good faith, the gravity of the violation and how many employees are exposed to the risk.

Disneyland was assessed $6,740 in fines, an amount Marple said was “not insubstantial under the circumstances.”

Worker safety at Disneyland came under the jurisdiction of the federal government when the state’s occupational safety program--Cal/OSHA--ceased operating last year.

Disney officials attributed some of the citations to differing standards between the two agencies.

“When federal OSHA took over, it was a new group, a new point of view and, in many cases, a new set of standards,” Disney spokesman Bob Roth said.

“Many of the most serious problems are areas where Cal/OSHA had not expressed any concerns in the past, so we operated under that assumption. But it was our impression overall that the inspectors felt we had a very good safety program.”

Roth said the park has corrected most of the conditions that led to citations and has included in its safety program “training to make people more aware of potential problem areas that (federal) OSHA may have.”

OSHA officials did not have figures on how many, if any, injuries at the park resulted from safety violations found during the inspections.

Overall, 1,450 occupation-related injuries were recorded at the park in 1987, according to OSHA. No deaths were recorded.