The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited SeaWorld for safety violations following the death of killer-whale trainer Dawn Brancheau at its Orlando park in February.
OSHA is citing SeaWorld of Florida LLC for three violations, including one that is classified as willful, which OSHA defines as one committedwith plain indifference to or intentional for employee safety and health. The fines could total $75,000.
On a SeaWorld blog, the park says it intends to fight the citations.
“SeaWorld recognized the inherent risk of allowing trainers to interact with potentially dangerous animals,” said Cindy Coe, OSHA’s regional administrator in Atlanta, Ga, in a press release. “Nonetheless, it required its employees to work within the pool walls, on ledges and on shelves where they were subject to dangerous behavior by the animals.”
The citations follow an investigation in the wake of the Brancheau death. The 40-year-old Brancheau was killed February 24 during a performance when a killer whale known as Tillikum grabbed her by the pony tail and pulled her under the water. According to OSHA, videotape footage shows the whale repeatedly striking and thrashing Brancheau as she tried to escape. The whale had been involved in an incident in which a trainer was killed previously, in 1991, and was considered so large and dangerous SeaWorld trainers were forbidden from swimming with him.
They were, however, allowed to touch him while laying on the side of the tank.
The most serious violation, the willful one, cites SeaWorld for exposing employees to struck by and drowning hazards. The second cites SeaWorld for exposing employees to a fall hazard by failing to install a stairway railing system. And, the final violation cites SeaWorld for failing to equip outdoor electrical receptacles in Shamu Stadium with weatherproof enclosures.
In the blog, SeaWorld says it has conducted its own extensive review of safety precautions with an independent panel of outside experts, and defends its safety practices as being the model for parks and zoos around the world.
“OSHA’s allegations in this citation are unsupported by any evidence or precedent and reflect a fundamental lack of understanding of the safety requirements associated with marine mammal care,” SeaWorld says in the blog.
It notes that humane care of the animals requires close proximity and says there have been few incidents given the fact that there have been over two million separate interactions with killer whales at the park.
SeaWorld has 15 days with which to comply with the citations or request a hearing with an independent OSHA commission.
Topics Florida Workers' Compensation
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