Statements of Greg Hale, Chief Safety Officer and Vice President of Worldwide Safety and Accessibility, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
(December 23, 2009) “At Walt Disney World Resort, safety is core to our culture and is central to everything we do. We have a comprehensive safety program that focuses on continuous improvement every day. This is a cornerstone of our company.”
“Since this summer, we closely reviewed our monorail system and identified opportunities to enhance our safety processes and procedures. The resulting enhancements fit into two key categories: enhancements to general processes and procedures and enhancements to the train switching process.”
“Day-in and day-out, we review safety procedures throughout our resort and continuously look for ways to improve our operations.”
“We have just received OSHA’s findings and are in the process of reviewing them. We will address any concerns and next steps directly with OSHA. We have already made several enhancements to the operation of the monorail and will review these findings to determine whether any additional steps are necessary.”
Safety Enhancements to the Monorail System
Enhancements to general processes and procedures include:
- Requiring that a coordinator be located in the Tower at the Ticket and Transportation Center at all times during monorail operations to coordinate train movement.
- Additional training to Cast Members on the platform to use a handpack to stop monorail trains from the platform in emergency situations.
- Supplementing our procedures to include a dedicated observer when a monorail train moves in reverse.
- Providing additional written training material for Monorail Shop Panel Operators.
Enhancements to the train switching process that include additional verifications and further clarification of key responsibilities:
- Requiring the coordinator in the Tower at the Ticket and Transportation Center to visually verify via an electronic display that the beams are in the proper switching position and that power has been applied appropriately.
- Requiring the monorail driver to: be in the forward facing cab when switching from one beam to another; verify that the switch beam is in the proper position before proceeding; stop at the next station after a switch and wait for clearance to proceed.
- Providing additional written training material for Monorail Shop Panel Operators concerning procedures for moving switch beams.
-- Posted December 23, 2009