In a previous post, we discussed how the marine theme park SeaWorld was challenging the $75,000 fine and three safety violations issued by the United States Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), including one willful violation for demonstrating "plain indifference" to the risk of serious and potentially fatal work injuries to animal trainers.

Specifically, the fines and safety violations were handed down by OSHA following an investigation into the tragic death of trainer Dawn Brancheau who was grabbed by her ponytail and drowned by Tilikum - one of SeaWorld Orlando's killer whales - back on February 24, 2010.

In recent developments, the administrative hearing resumed last week with attorneys for OSHA calling three animal trainers from SeaWorld San Diego to the witness stand.

While the depth and breadth of the testimony provided by the three animal trainers is too detailed for the scope of this single blog post, the three were called by OSHA attorneys to help further the argument that SeaWorld's policy to teach its trainers to recognize visual signs of potential aggression/hostility by killer whales is inadequate safety protocol.

Interestingly, attorneys for SeaWorld originally sought to prevent the three San Diego-based animal trainers from testifying at the administrative hearing, arguing that their testimony was not relevant to the proceedings.

However, OSHA attorneys successfully persuaded the presiding Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that the testimony was relevant because the staff in charge of killer whales at SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Diego and SeaWorld San Antonio all share information with one another, including safety protocols and standard operating procedures.

Once the hearing is completed, a final decision on the OSHA violations may not be handed down by the ALJ for several months.

It is worth noting that February's tragedy was not the first fatal accident involving Tilikum, the largest killer whale currently in captivity.

  • In 1991, a trainer at Sealand of the Pacific, located in Canada, drowned after falling into a tank with Tilikum and two other whales. Investigators ruled that the cause of death was the whales preventing the trainer from exiting the pool.
  • In 1999, a man was found drowned in Tilikum's tank. Authorities believed he had eluded park security and hid until closing. It was undetermined whether he jumped or fell into the tank.

Stay tuned for further developments from our San Diego workers' compensation blog ...

You should strongly consider seeking the necessary medical treatment if you have suffered any type of work injury - regardless of your employment setting.

This post was for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.

Source:

The Orlando Sentinel, "OSHA questions San Diego trainers as SeaWorld citation-appeal hearing resumes" Nov. 15, 2011