Federal investigators charged Walt Disney World with five safety violations at the Primeval Whirl roller coaster that was the site of a fatal employee accident last fall. They also fined the company $21,500.

On Nov. 24, ride attendant Karen Price, 63, was working on an elevated rider-loading platform when she was struck by a ride vehicle and knocked to the ground, where she hit her head. She died five days later.

Without identifying her, OSHA gave this account: "An employee, who was working on an elevated platform, dispatched a roller coaster then went back to the roller coaster to assist some guests and while the deceased was assisting the guests the roller coaster dispatched. The roller coaster struck the deceased then pushed her 10 feet. The deceased fell 32 inches from the roller coaster to the ground level."

Disney officials said last fall that Price was in an area where employees were prohibited while a vehicle is moving.
Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty noted Friday that the company renovated Primeval Whirl’s two rider-loading platform areas in February. That work included installation of sensors that can shut down the ride if someone enters a prohibited area. Prunty said Disney officials must carefully review the OSHA report before determining whether anything still needs to be addressed.

The OSHA report specifically relates only one of the serious violations to the incident. The report noted that both the A and B sides of the ride lacked "machine guarding" to protect operators; without it, they were "exposed to being struck by or crushed by a roller coaster" as it moved past the loading platforms. OSHA fined Disney $7,000 for that.

OSHA also fined Disney a total of $4,000 for two other "serious" violations that the report did not specifically tie to the incident — that employees who walked in one area were exposed to tripping over supports affixed to the ground; and that they were exposed to a fall on stairs that were not uniform.

Disney was fined $7,500 for a repeat violation that OSHA had first cited in July: not providing a handrail on a stairwell. Finally, Disney was fined $3,000 for not providing certain records within four days.

Source: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/bus...ites-fine.html