Cal/OSHA has fined Disney $36,000 in connection with the death of Juan “Spike” Osorio, a lighting technician who fell through a faulty catwalk on the Studio City set of a Marvel TV series. The workplace safety agency issued the citations several months after Osorio plummeted 41 feet to his death behind the scenes of “Wonder Man” at Radford Studio Center, a spokesperson for Hollywood crew members union IATSE confirmed to The Times. Variety was first to report the news.
Cal/OSHA also fined Radford Studio Center a total of $45,000. Representatives for Disney and Radford Studio Center did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment. According to Cal/OSHA’s investigation summary, Osorio and other crew members were handling lighting cable equipment that was hanging from suspended wooden platforms when a section of a catwalk collapsed underneath him.
The report notes that a ledger supporting the catwalk was improperly installed, deteriorated and weakened “likely due to age, environmental conditions and repeated stress loads over many decades.” Osorio “forcefully impacted” the ground below and was pronounced dead by emergency responders shortly after the accident. The cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma to the head, neck and legs.
“The loss of Spike was and is needless as everyone should go home safely after a day’s work,” IATSE Local 728, the lighting technicians guild, said in a statement. “While we recognize and appreciate the work .