What we can learn from Disney’s revised Cal/OSHA citations

Citations originally issued on April 12, 2013, to The Walt Disney Co. dba Disneyland Resort, were amended on May 8, 2013 by Cal/OSHA, from $234,850 down to $82,025, according to Cal/OSHA’s website.

The investigation was launched as the result of a serious injury to an employee of HSG Professional Window Cleaners, Inc. that took place on November 21, 2012 when the worker was performing maintenance on the exterior of the Space Mountain attraction.

Space Mountain reopens

“After a three-week closure to complete safety work, the popular Space Mountain attraction at Disneyland  in Anaheim reopened Friday evening,” according to the L.A. Times.

Disneyland did the right thing – they did not challenge the immense Cal/OSHA fine they received when a contractor fell while cleaning the roof of Space Mountain.  His fall protection harness apparently failed.  He hit the lip of the roof and did not fall down but he did suffer a few broken bones.

Disneyland deserved to be fined by Cal/OSHA

“A California agency issued its largest fine against Disney in at least 10 years when finding that the company “willfully violated” safety regulations related to a contractor’s injury on Space Mountain, state records show,” according to the O.C. Register.

The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health is proposing a $234,850 penalty against the Disneyland Resort, according to a report issued Friday. That’s the highest penalty that the Disneyland Resort has faced since at least 2003 from the division.

Disneyland shuts down rides due to safety violations

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has prompted Disneyland to shut down Space Mountain, Matterhorn, and Soarin’ Over California due to inadequate safety features, according to MiceChat.

High School band member from Long Island died during a trip to Disneyland

A Long Island teenager died suddenly during a trip to Disneyland with the school band. Joseph Tutaj, 15, complained of a fever shortly before he died. Tutaj and 80 members of the Seaford High School band were enjoying the trip to the theme park before tragedy struck. Tutaj played the trumpet,” according to the Inquisitr.

“On Tuesday, Tutaj was at the Santa Monica Pier when he complained of a high fever. The teen was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and died 24 hours later,” according to CBS News.

A look at Knott’s Berry Farm’s restaurants’ food safety record

Picture Courtesy of the Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant’s Facebook Page

A few weeks ago we took a look at the health inspection record of Disney’s top restaurants – and it was somewhat shocking.  Even the new hard to get into Carthay Circle restaurant, at California Adventures, had two major food safety violations when it was inspected on Nov. 29, 2012.

Now it’s time to have a look at the food safety record of the restaurants and eateries at Knott’s Berry Farm.  Let’s see if they’re any better…and keep in mind the fact that Orange County’s Supervisors chose a few years ago not to use letter-grade health ratings at our restaurants, which is why you will never know how bad a restaurant really is unless you click here and look up their food safety inspection records.

And what better place to start our food safety review of Knott’s than their famous Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant! They were inspected by the Orange County Health Care Agency on August 22, 2012, and here is what those intrepid inspectors found:

Disneyland’s OSHA inspections, violations and complaints

The Walt Disney Company continues to be Orange County’s largest employer – adding 5,000 more jobs since they finished remodeling their California Adventures Park.  But if you are thinking about applying for one of those jobs, you may be interested in checking out their California Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) violations, complaints and inspection records.

This information is available to the public and can be found here.  There are 38 entries since 2007.

Is Disneyland ready for the big one?

It is a matter of time before the Big One hits Southern California.  But is Disneyland ready for a catastrophic earthquake?  And what about Disneyland?

Well, you may not know this but both Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts have established permanent Emergency Operations Centers, to “provide a swift, well coordinated response in the event of an emergency.  These Centers are always on alert and use the same unified command system as law enforcement agencies (the Incident Command System or “ICS”) to facilitate communication and expedite mobilization in crisis situations,” according to a 2002 Walt Disney Company Report on Safety.

Remembering when the Christmas tree at the Grand Californian Hotel caught fire

The Christmas tree on Main St., at Disneyland

Like most of us, Disneyland no longer uses a real Christmas Tree, on Main St.  They switched to a giant sixty food artificial tree in 2008.  A cast member told me this weekend that the switch was due to the time it took to put the lights on the real trees.  Now they store the artificial tree in a big warehouse and it is a lot quicker to deploy it, although it still takes a few days.

These artificial trees are not, by the way, fireproof.  Back in 2005 a similar tree went up in flames, at 3 am, at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, forcing a mass evacuation of thousands of guests.  I know, as I showed up the very next day to oversee the safety of the restoration workers, from American Technologies, who cleaned up the mess. 

Does your favorite Disneyland restaurant have a clean bill of health?

Orange County’s Board of Supervisors rejected letter grade health ratings for our restaurants, so if you visit Disneyland, or California Adventures, you won’t know if their restaurants have had any food safety issues.  But don’t despair!  You can read all about their inspections online.

Disney does have a safety department that includes several full time food safety professionals – and most of them used to work for the County of Orange Health Agency, as restaurant health inspectors.  But the turnover at restaurants can be high, and Disneyland also employs a lot of youngsters, who may lack experience.  As such the Disney restaurants have pretty lengthy inspection records, that can make for interesting reading, to say the least.

Here are links to the restaurant inspection information for all of the restaurants at Disneyland: