Space Mountain Closed After Disneyland is Issued Safety Citations
After concerns over safety were raised, three popular rides at Disneyland were shut down. Owners of the park are dealing with a review of its employee safety protocols after they were given citations from state regulators.
The citations were received Friday from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, according to Disneyland Resorts spokeswoman Suzi Brown. Brown added that the closures that took place on Saturday included Space Mountain, the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Soarin' Over California were done voluntarily and as only a precaution.
"We constantly strive to maintain a safe work environment for our cast members and contractors- and we are reviewing certain protocols," Brown told AP.
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Reports indicate that the citations were related to an incident in November after a contracted worker was injured while performing maintenance on the exterior of the Space Mountain attraction. Disneyland did not correct "known fall hazards" that existed on the exterior of Space Mountain, leading to the citation.
"Furthermore, Disneyland Resort failed to have approved anchorages or approved tie-backs for contract employees to attach to when performing scheduled exterior building maintenance," according to a description of the citation on the Cal/OSHA website.
It was also recently revealed that the Walt Disney Company is expecting to have to lay off workers in its studio and consumer product divisions, citing the company's plans to reduce overall cost.
The decision to reduce a portion of Disney's employee base will be primarily focused on Disney studio's marketing, home video units and the animation division, a source with direct knowledge of the company's plans told Reuters.
It was unclear how many job cuts will occur, but Disney, which is headquartered in Burbank, Calif., started an internal cost-cutting review late last year to identify jobs that were not financially viable due to advancements in technology, the source said.
Disney has yet to issue a formal statement regarding the nature of the report or the extent of the layoffs, but after several acquisitions over the past few years, the company may be looking at eliminating redundancy within its various departments.
