Disney fined $36,000 over ‘Wonder Man’ crew member’s death on set

Disney has been fined $36,000 after a CAL/OSHA ruling related to the death of Juan Carlos Osorio on the set of Marvel Studios. Wonder Man in February.

Osorio, 41, worked at Radford Studios in Studio City. He died on February 6 while collecting and removing overhead lighting cable equipment on Stage 3.

According to a CAL/OSHA report, “As the crew walked along the catwalks, the employee (Osorio) was standing on the slack section of the catwalk. Suddenly, and without warning, the ledger supporting the floor slab broke and collapsed while the employee was standing on this section of the walkway. The employee fell 41 feet and hit the ground hard below.”

He died on the spot. The series was not being filmed at the time.

Osorio was a member of IATSE Local 728, and the union issued the following statement today:

IATSE Local 728 is grateful to Cal/OSHA for their commitment to making our workplaces safer. The loss of Spike was and is unnecessary as everyone should go home safely after a day’s work. While we recognize and appreciate the work that all major studios have done in upgrading their soundstages since this tragedy, there are many non-Union facilities that lack the resources and oversight to make this possible. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the safety of our members and hold our employers to their federally mandated duty to provide a safe and hazard-free workplace.

Here is the full description of the incident from the CAL/OSHA report:

At 6:50 am on February 6, 2024, an employee was working as an engineering technician for a television and film production company. The employee was working with a crew that included Employee #1 and Employee #2. The crew was working on the wooden catwalks located in Stage 3. The crew was collecting and removing lighting cable equipment hanging from the wooden platforms. One platform was accessible by a wooden staircase that continued upwards and was connected to the other wooden walkway platforms. The walking surface of these catwalks was made up of wooden planks of various sizes, including 2-inch by 6-inch and 2-inch by 8-inch planks. These planks were supported below by 2-inch by 4-inch wooden supports (sometimes called “registers”). One particular section of this walkway had a damaged register that did not support the 4-inch by 12-inch support beam, but was instead improperly nailed to a roof truss. The damaged register has probably been weakened by age, environmental conditions and repeated stress loads over many decades. While the crew walked along the catwalks, the employee sat on the slack section of the catwalk. Suddenly, and without warning, the ledger supporting the floor slab broke and collapsed while the employee was standing on this section of the walkway. The employee fell 41 feet and hit the ground below hard. The employee was pronounced dead by emergency medical services who responded shortly after the fall. The cause of death was accidental trauma to the head, neck and legs.