Disney has been slapped with a $36,000 fine after a worker on the Marvel series “ Wonder Man ” fell to his death in February. J.C.
“Spike” Osorio, a lighting technician, died on Feb. 6 after falling through a rotten catwalk at Stage 3 at the Radford Studio Center in Studio City. A Cal/OSHA investigation concluded that the catwalk had a deteriorated section of wood, which was improperly nailed to a roof support.
“The deteriorated ledger was weakened likely due to age, environmental conditions and repeated stress loads over many decades,” the investigative summary states. “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 investigation confirmed the account that a witness and two IATSE officials told Variety in February. The death prompted many studio facilities to upgrade their catwalks.
The workplace safety agency issued two “serious” citations to Disney, through its production entity, Ionic Productions, on Aug. 6. Each citation carries a proposed penalty of $18,000.
The maximum penalty the agency can issue for a serious citation is $25,000. Cal/OSHA also issued two citations to Radford Studio Center, both in the amount of $22,500, bringing the total penalties for both companies to $81,000. Th.