Occupational Health and Safety
Reducing the risk of injury and illness to Disney Cast Members and employees, and managing those health problems that do occur, are goals that all of us share. Ultimately, there is no better outcome than the injury or illness that never happens.
At Disney we use a team approach to safety that engages the entire enterprise. We believe that safety is everyone's responsibility and rests with each employee and Cast Member. Leadership is an essential part of our safety team. Throughout its many subsidiaries, the company has assembled risk management professionals and resources to provide effective loss prevention and loss control leadership.
Safety and Loss Prevention
At Disney, management takes a visible and active role in planning safety into all projects and business development. This ensures that safety and property protection remain top priorities by identifying and managing risk issues as they arise in the course of business. This commitment is communicated to every Cast Member and employee of the organization as well as contractors, vendors and suppliers. Safety and loss control programs focus on evaluating and identifying key risks and implementing strategies to reduce the frequency and potential severity of losses.
- Television and Motion Picture Safety: Every script is read by safety professionals to evaluate potential risks for stunts, special effects, remote locations and exposures. A checklist is used to document that each of our productions has the required programs, and safety personnel work with production crews both inside the studios and on location to help ensure that safety is integrated into the production.
- Media Network Safety: With a diverse entertainment and news content portfolio comes a need for loss prevention with a non-industrial twist. Examples include fall protection for camera operators at stadiums and sports events and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons awareness training courses for news gatherers overseas and domestically.
- Safety in Motion � (SIM): In view of the significant impact and potential losses resulting from body-motion injuries, we have implemented Safety in Motion�, a program focused on reducing body-motion and musculoskeletal injuries, with particular focus in the labor intensive Theme Parks and Resorts segment. At these locations, some with over 20,000 Cast members, employees have received the benefit of hands-on training and follow-up refreshers. As a result, body-motion claims have been reduced by 38% at the Walt Disney World Resort, with similar results at other business units.
- Safe D Begins with Me: This internal communication initiative at our parks raises awareness about safety and the important role each Cast Member plays in maintaining it. We communicate to our cast and crew through newsletters, bulletin board postings and posters. We also use creatively targeted communications such as the Safe D Begins With Me! It's Nothing to Be Silent About video series for which the Disneyland Resort received the Questar Honors Award. This award honors outstanding achievement in corporate CD-ROMs and videos.
- Shoes For Crews: The external vendor "Shoes for Crews" was engaged to address slip-and-fall exposures in Food-service locations. With this preferred provider of shoes for employees in specific areas prone to slippery surfaces, the program provides shoes to employees or encourages them to buy and maintain higher-quality footwear.
Loss Control
Working closely and coordinating with the loss prevention team, our loss control departments respond in the unfortunate event of a worker injury. Our goal is to deliver benefits that speed recovery and promote return to work.
Our workers' compensation professionals, both within the company and those employed by service providers, are part of a team. They work with their counterparts in every part of Disney including safety, industrial hygiene, risk management, operations and maintenance. Our goal is to create an environment where information is shared and continuously improves our efforts to reduce the frequency and severity of workers' compensation losses.
One of the company's primary challenges regarding workers' compensation risk is the breadth of the work in which Disney employees and Cast Members are engaged. Disney businesses operate in diverse industries, in which employees are engaged in a wide range of occupations throughout the world, with many operating on a 24/7 basis.
- Return-to-Work Programs: Early evaluation for return to work is a cornerstone of our workers' compensation program, and we have embraced a philosophy of "Recover While Working" with great success. Our focus is on helping employees remain employed throughout the recovery process and minimize time away from work. We believe that remaining active and contributing to the workforce is as important a part of recovery as clinical and therapeutic measures. Beyond the benefit of reducing costs, this approach produces the best result for all: the business unit retains the experience and contribution of the employee, while he or she is actively and safely engaged during the recovery process.
- Managing Medical Care Expenses: Effective medical care is the key to achieving the best outcome for the injured worker and reducing overall costs; if medical treatment is managed, all other claim costs are better controlled. The company maintains occupational or Cast health centers at major locations in New York, Florida and California. Depending on the nature of the business, these facilities may include physicians, registered nurses or other health professionals and provide general health resources, first aid and occupational health services. At other locations, private occupational health clinics or hospitals serve smaller business units.
