Disney Fined $36,000 Following Death Of ‘Wonder Man’ Crew Member
Earlier this year, on the set for the upcoming Marvel Studios “Wonder Man” series for Disney+, a tragic accident took place on the set at Radford Studios in Studio City. On February 6th 2024, Juan Carlos Osorio, who was a rigger worker on the show, died while collecting and removing lighting cable equipment high up on Stage 3.
This week, Disney was fined $36,000 for not following rules by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, with the report stating:
“As the crew walked along the catwalks, the employee (Osorio) stood on the weakened section of catwalk. Suddenly, and without warning, the ledger supporting the floorboard broke apart and collapsed as the employee was standing on this section of catwalk. The employee fell 41 feet and forcefully impacted the ground below.”
Two serious citations had been issued to Disney, with each citation having a proposed penalty of $18,000, to a maximum penalty of $25,00
The IATSE Local 728, and the union, who Juan was a member of, issued the following statement today regarding the report:
IATSE Local 728 is grateful to Cal/OSHA for their commitment to making our workplaces safer. The loss of Spike was and is needless as everyone should go home safely after a day’s work. While we recognize and appreciate the work that all the major studios have done in retrofitting their soundstages since this tragedy, there are many non-Union facilities that lack the resources and oversight to make this possible. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the safety of our members, and holding our employers to their federally mandated duty of a workplace that is safe and free from hazards.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health report revealed that the catwalk had a deteriorated section of wood, which was improperly nailed to a roof support. Here’s the full description for the incident:
At 6:50 a.m. on February 6, 2024, an employee was working as an engineering technician for a television and film production company. The employee was working with a crew which included Employee #1 and Employee #2. The crew was working on wooden catwalks located in Stage 3. The crew was collecting and removing lighting cable equipment that was hanging from the wooden platforms. One platform was accessible via a wooden staircase that continued upward and was connected to the other wooden catwalk platforms. The walking surface of these catwalks consisted of wooden floorboards of various sizes, including as 2-inch by 6-inch and 2-inch by 8-inch boards. These floorboards were supported underneath by 2-inch by 4-inch wooden supports (sometimes referred to as “ledgers”). A particular section of this catwalk had a deteriorated ledger that was not bearing the 4-inch by 12-inch underlying support beam, but instead was improperly nailed to a roof truss. The deteriorated ledger was weakened likely due to age, environmental conditions and repeated stress loads over many decades. As the crew walked along the catwalks, the employee stood on the weakened section of catwalk. Suddenly, and without warning, the ledger supporting the floorboard broke apart and collapsed as the employee was standing on this section of catwalk. The employee fell 41 feet and forcefully impacted the ground below. The employee was pronounced dead by responding emergency medical services shortly after the fall. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, neck and legs.
Disney is expected to appeal the decision, as it has two weeks to do so since it doesn’t operate The Radford Studios in Studio City, which was previously known as CBS Studio Center, is operated by Radford Studio Center, Inc, which was also issued with citations, both in the amount of $22,500, bringing the total penalties for both companies to $81,000.
Since this incident, many studios have been upgrading the catwalks on their facilities to try to prevent another accident from happening like this.
Roger Palmer
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