OSHA Cites Dorney Park For "Serious" Violation

[The Interpreter]

Failure to protect workers from heat and illness hazards, record keeping violation; $9,000 in fines proposed:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lehigh-county/index.ssf/2014/12/dorney_park_failed_to_protect.html

[AZ Kinda Guy]

Not quite sure I understand. He collapsed from heat exhaustion then burned himself?

[bkroz]

"...collapsed near a food stand fryer" could be it. Maybe he fell against a hot appliance or something.

[Creed Bratton]

Okay....so this reminds me of the alleged "Banshee crew is not allowed to have water" in one of the threads early in the 2014 season. Reading the article, I see what OSHA says there has to be:

The program should include effective training; consistently available water and shaded breaks; a thorough review of heat illness incidents; and acclimatization."

Cedar Fair allows each and every ride/attraction/food stall/office/store/etc. to have access to water. So that couldn't be a part of the issue.

What gets me, is that OSHA claims in an odd wording, that the employee was placed in a heat hazard environment, which could be due to the fact that they were working in direct sunlight or working in a small building with a heat source such as a fryer, which is a violation of OSHA standards. I would think that any violations in food stalls would have to be cleared okay by the health department prior to the park opening for the year. Now I know the health department doesn't necessarily work on building codes and zoning (for size) but if they see any hazards for the customers or employees, it should be their responsibility to report it. How long has the food stand been in existence without incident previously? Why is this just now an issue?

I feel sorry for the employee who suffered the burns. OSHA standards to me are silly for temporary/seasonal employment. While I understand their general purpose of protecting the employees, I disagree with fines for citations when the employees are temporary/seasonal, where their wok environment is explained in detail, including weather, work space, heat, etc. In my experience with working under Cedar Fair, employees know the dangers associated with their jobs, so for OSHA to issue a citation on seasonal/temporary employment at an amusement park that operates, in various forms of weather (cold, hot, rainy, snowy, sunny, etc.) through a 6-8 month period, is incredibly trivial. I am okay with fines when serious violations happen, but from what I understand, the employee collapsed due to heat, working in food service at an amusement park in which they knew the hazards associated with the job, it seems that the burns were minor and the employee (in my speculation) doesn't want to say it was their fault for not staying hydrated, not for reporting they weren't feeling well, etc.

Post was written in pure speculation, other than how Cedar Fair, explains the work environment and does provide water throughout shifts. Otherwise, I may not know what I'm talking about in the idea of the OSHA citation and I'm okay to admit that.

[shark6495]

OSHA and Food and Safety have different requirements and probably don't know each other's unless it's a major problem (working on top of a coaster without rigging or handling food without gloves). Maybe OSHA doesn't inspect until a report or and incident occurs?

The violation (speculation) could come from improper ventilation due to the heat source, improper mandatory breaks for hydration with heat source, the shaded break area away from the heat source, or any other thing that could cause problems.

The thing is this could have been much more serious. He could have collapsed into the fryer etc. many say they understand the hazards but not many actually due. This could be a case of "take a heat break when needed" to "take a heat break for 10 mins every hour due to heat, etc".

[Dieseltech20]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. Labor meaning Work.

Therefore it does not matter if one is working a seasonal job or a permanent job, they are under their guidelines and rules. If those rules are not followed, you, as employer, best be prepared to pay the piper.

[malem]

OSHA standards to me are silly for temporary/seasonal employment. While I understand their general purpose of protecting the employees, I disagree with fines for citations when the employees are temporary/seasonal, where their wok environment is explained in detail, including weather, work space, heat, etc.

Seasonal employers shouldn't have to ensure the safety of their employees?

I'm sure that the matters in the OSHA report will receive more attention industry-wide. The fine amount is trivial for the park. From a PR standpoint, they certainly don't want to get fined again.

[faeriewench]

Maybe OSHA doesn't inspect until a report or and incident occurs?

.

lol...See SeaWorld. OSHA didn't really give a flip until the 2010 incident (of course one of the people doing the investigations stupidly got herself involved with the Blackfish crowd)

[freaks76]

Well, that's a black eye for CF.

I think I'll keep my opinion to myself on this one........

[Creed Bratton]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. Labor meaning Work.

Therefore it does not matter if one is working a seasonal job or a permanent job, they are under their guidelines and rules. If those rules are not followed, you, as employer, best be prepared to pay the piper.

I get that. As I said in my original post, in my speculation, the incident seems to be caused by the employee, not the park in my opinion. Again, to me it seems like the employee didn't take the initiative to take a drink of water, step out from the area with the heat source, step into a shaded area, even for a minute.

OSHA standards to me are silly for temporary/seasonal employment. While I understand their general purpose of protecting the employees, I disagree with fines for citations when the employees are temporary/seasonal, where their wok environment is explained in detail, including weather, work space, heat, etc.

Seasonal employers shouldn't have to ensure the safety of their employees?

I'm sure that the matters in the OSHA report will receive more attention industry-wide. The fine amount is trivial for the park. From a PR standpoint, they certainly don't want to get fined again.

Now I did not say that. I said they seem silly. As far as OSHA, I know for a fact, they look for the tiniest things, to try to prove an employer is at fault. My father who has worked for a company that has had numerous visits from OSHA on violations, has been there when they are visiting. He has seen them, try to fine the company for using the wrong type of screws in a door frame, that may cause an employee to scratch themselves. Their citing is silly often times. They don't account for an error on the account of the one who was injured. In the example from my dad's job, they tried to fine the company for someone who walked through the doorway and was too close to the frame and scraped themselves. They examine everything with a fine tooth, to find fault at the companies expense, hardly the one injured.

Remember when Disneyland came into the spotlight at Disneyland, because an employee did not properly shackle himself to the outside of Space Mountain, he shackled himself to an unapproved anchor point. He ended up falling off of the ride exterior into a wall.

Again, I'm not saying that safety standards are not important for employers to follow. I'm just saying that citing an employer such as Dorney Park/Cedar Fair with violations that are most likely caused by the employee is silly.

But, who really knows....none of us were actually there when the incident happened. Anything at this point is pure speculation until the final report comes out.

[malem]

^ In many cases, more than one party shares fault in an incident. In the examples you mentioned, OSHA would be going after any responsibility on the employer's part.

An employee might make an error, but the work environment - as well as the employee's training and supervision - are generally responsibilities of the employer.

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

Working in a food stand or even in a kitchen can become very hot and the employees should have direct access to ice cold water to keep themselves hydrated. Were they allowed to keep a bottle filled with ice cold water at their workstation or could they freely leave their workstation for a moment to quench their thirst? There might be times they would be so busy that they might not be able to leave their station to get water or heaven forbid, they were told having a water bottle at their station was unsightly, especially if they were in constant interaction with their guests. But not allegedly not having access to water reminds me of the time I was taking basic training in the Army at Fort Jackson, SC, in the middle of summer in 1974. Our drill sergeant forbid us to drink from our canteen that we carried on our web belt on our long march to our next drill. We were dying of thirst by the time we reached it.

[TTD-120-420]

Do OSHA fines get paid to OSHA or the injured employee? How does this work?

[The Interpreter]

OSHA fines are paid to the agency.

[Dieseltech20]

He has seen them, try to fine the company for using the wrong type of screws in a door frame, that may cause an employee to scratch themselves. Their citing is silly often times. They don't account for an error on the account of the one who was injured. In the example from my dad's job, they tried to fine the company for someone who walked through the doorway and was too close to the frame and scraped themselves.

White Collar job issues are something else

Getting cut, scraped, etc are a daily work occurrence for me.

I believe "Bleed Daily" is in my job description.