Walt Disney World Monorail Accident Results in Safety Violations

Federal regulators have proposed $44,000 in fines against Disney for safety violations that resulted in the death of a monorail driver at Walt Disney World this summer.

Investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said they found serious safety violations in their review of the July 5 Walt Disney World monorail accident, which killed Austin Wuennenberg, a monorail driver at the famous amusement park. The $44,000 in proposed OSHA fines includes a $7,000 penalty for a serious violation that resulted in a fatality.

OSHA officials said that the company failed to have proper procedures in place that would have prevented exposing employees to collision hazards. Inspectors found an additional three safety violations unrelated to the accident.

The Walt Disney World accident occurred when another monorail train was being backed up to switch tracks. The train was switched onto the wrong track, and collided with the monorail being driven by Wuennenberg. No one else was injured in the crash, which occurred at 2 a.m. as the park was closing.

Investigations by OSHA officials revealed that Disney failed to adhere to safety procedures outlined by the trains’ manufacturer, Bombardier Inc. The company’s safety manual warned that the trains should never be backed up without an observer at the rear of the train, due to the driver’s limited visibility while the train is in reverse.

Disney officials say they are still reviewing the OSHA findings, but have already enacted a policy that requires a spotter at the rear of the monorail trains whenever they are being driven in reverse. The new policy requires the spotter to give the drive an all-clear signal before the train can be put into reverse. A spotter is now required even if the train is being backed up a foot or two because it overshot the station.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia from public domain