ash falling on the DLR

[SRT_GB]

Before I begin my gripe I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by the socal wildfires. My crappy experience today is nothing compared to what those people have been through.

For those of you who aren't aware, the wildfires in socal mixed with the winds have caused ash to fall over the DLR the last couple days. It's also caused most of Orange County to smell like smoke. So today some lower level managers, looking out for their cast members' safety, provided their cast members with dust/particle masks, or at least tried to. The cast members that were fortunate enough to get a mask were asked to take them off on order of a certain higher up manager, and the ones that didn't get masks just plain didn't get one. The reason they gave was that guests were complaining that they weren't getting them too.

I'm not too surprised that management would jeopardize the safety of its cast just to dodge the gripes of a few guests. But in the time I've been around, this is an all-time low. I'm not that upset that I didn't get one; I'm young and don't have any major health problems. I'm really mad they made my friends and co-workers who are asthmatic, old, or pregnant work in these conditions.

[CujoSR]

This is one of those oppertunitys that disney could make ALOT of money. Selling masks to the guests. Then again Pressler and Harris arn't around to jump on the idea. Hell they could have little mickeys on them or something.

[SpaceRanger]

Yea, it's been horrible. I've inhaled so much ash the past couple days that I've actually gotten sick from it. My lungs still hurt. I'm just glad that I have tomorrow off.

[Max Fischer]

My GF and I were checking out of the GCH yesterday and we asked the bellhop why the bellhops and valet CMs aren't wearing masks and he said that their managers tried getting them for everyone, but that the health department wouldn't allow them to distribute them. ( I work part-time as an EMT, and we wear similar masks, and as dumb as this is, we have to be trained on them....)

The CM went on to say that the managers said 'screw it' and told the CMs just to wear them while they were running to pick up cars. The CM went on to say that guest were making comments about them, and basically bitching about why CMs needed them, blah blah.

My take on it is this. If you are working outdoors, then you should be protected. just like when you get an XRAY, the xray techs all wear lead aprons to protect themselves from the radiation exposure. The patients are never shielded in lead. Why? Well, just like the CMs, they are exposed to the danger ALL day, so they needed protection.

At least at the GCH the managment was looking out for the CMs, up to the point of knowingly getting fined by the health department.

Hope the fires are out soon.

[Dante101]

...we asked the bellhop why the bellhops and valet CMs aren't wearing masks and he said that their managers tried getting them for everyone, but that the health department wouldn't allow them to distribute them.
Huh??? That just sounds like some bullsh*t excuse that they came up with. Why would they need approval from the health department to give out little paper masks??? They pass out ear plugs freely to the cast members. What's the difference? I mean an ear plug is something you actually put inside of your body! A mask is just a piece of paper over your nose and mouth!

I think it's like the first post said, that they thought it looked bad on the cast members, and they didn't want the guests to get concerned.

If the guests got concerned, they might stay inside their hotel rooms and avoid spending money. :roll:

[Max Fischer]

I am pretty sure that the problem lies with the fact that wearing a mask can impair your breathing if not worn correctly and used like it should be. I know that for the average person with a clue, it is not too big a deal to wear it, but another complication is the fact that they are wearing it at work, etc. etc. Ear plugs are a standard thing that doesn't interfere with life safety. The CM didn't seem like he was BS-ing me, he was pretty matter of fact. I guess it is a lose-lose situation, if they hand them out and someone dies as a result of an asthma attack they are screwed, if they don't make an attempt, they are screwed. What are you gonna do? It was pretty funny to see rich people run from their luxery cars and dash inside the lobby to avoid the ash.

[Dante101]

I'm not saying the cast member was bullshi*ing YOU, I'm saying the cast member was most likely bullshi*ed to by his manager. There's no reason for the CM to lie to you about it.

But I say it's impossible for those little paper masks to suffocate anyone by putting them over your face - no matter how dumb a person can be.

[PoohBunniesHutch]

And all training consists off (required when issuing protective equipment, not by the health department, but by OSHA) is how to put the dang thing on, when to use it, when not to use it. The trainer (the manager or whomever, don't need a rocket science degree to handle this one) gives the training, then everybody signs off and the paper validating the training gets filed until some OSHA inspector comes around and asks to see all the training logs for protective equipment. Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah....

[Anonymous]

I was over at the HM when our lead mentioned that we were allowed to wear masks as long as we brought our own. That's good since we were already there. lol. I was used to the bad air though. I actually live out in Rancho Cucamonga where the first one started so it was actually not too bad down at Disneyland.

[GMC]

This is sort of a dated post topic, but summer is giveing way to fall very soon, which means dry season, maeing this will happen agian soon, well last i heard it's happening now, but not as proximal to the property as these. to give those of you and idea of how close some of these are, picture disneyland, go east on ball or katella, (the streets on the north and south ends of disneyland) for about 10 miles, then go into the hills, the fires, if i'm not mistaken, or at least the ones i rember pouring ash on the area, are on the other side of those hills.

i used to work at a sandwhich/ice cream shop at the base of the hills, and i remeber the smoke being so bad that we couldn't see 1/4 mile down the road, and that when we left, we tied our aprons around our facesand wore sunglasses (as goggles) at 945 pm to keep the ash out of our eyes, i doubt if it was that bad at Disenyland, just because there's about 10 miles of civilization between my old job and disney, and that my job was near a low point in the hills, so the smoke was probly comming right through it. i also rember opening my locker at school (which happened about twice a year) and there was nice layer of ash on everything inside. it' really wierd whenever the smake from one of our fires blows your way, because it felects the red of the fire, and casts an eerie shade on everything, and when you go indoors to where there's normal light everythign looks blue, beause everything outside is cast in red and orange.

[FairyRosita]

and there you have it folks!! another mangers disregard for our safety. you know i'd like to see the mangers try to do what we do maybe then they'd be willing to show some concern, but until then i'm sure some disney imagenear is working to make animtronic cast members, who won't make a fuss about their health. :twisted:

[Wizard69]

My take on it is this. If you are working outdoors, then you should be protected. just like when you get an XRAY, the xray techs all wear lead aprons to protect themselves from the radiation exposure. The patients are never shielded in lead. Why? Well, just like the CMs, they are exposed to the danger ALL day, so they needed protection.

We need protection from guests since we are exposed to THAT danger everyday. :)

[saidthekat]

We need protection from guests since we are exposed to THAT danger everyday. :)

i agree... if they would just give us guns... guests would be much more inclined to do as we say...

[SoarWhoreCoCo]

I know that in 1998 when 3/4 of the state of FL was on fire, the ash and smoke was severe (many time causing false signal 25 alarms). At that time we did not have CDS (aka Deployment) and our managers would only allow us to be outside in position for no more than 15 minutes then we rotated inside. However our poor work mates in all outdoor areas were sick and coughing and some even got HOT falling ash on them and got light burns, they were roted inside as much as possible with overstaffing.
Now with CDS we will be stuck outside for up to two hours if it ever God Forbid happen again.
My hearts and prayers go out to you all in CA. Be safe, buy a mask(tax deductable as a work expense like reqiuired shoes, socks, etc.) at least here we have the right to wear them as long as we remove them to talk to Guests (at least we did in 1998).

[Robofudd]

In case this should come up again (and since the Hills were alive with the sound of, well, fire, it could come up again), y'all should know the facts about facemasks.

First, unless California OSHA is different from the rest of the Union (which it could be), the omly facemasks for which OSHA has rules are the ones that say NIOSH on them. Any mask that's approved by NIOSH (you don't need to know this, but it's the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) is considered a respirator. Any mask that isn't approved by NIOSH (you won't find that acronym anywhere on the mask, the instructions, or the box it came in) is not a respirator and you can wear it to your heart's content.

Unless you are somewhere that you NEED a respirator ("need" defined by exceeding airborne limits). Then all bets are off. But for ash, more than likely you're not someplace where you're exceeding anything (even as annying as it can be).

Disneyland does have a safety office, and more than likely they have an industrial hygienist on staff (I've seen job announcements for the park, so I assume they have one still). If you're being tweaked around by cluelss managers, I encourage you to call the safety office and ask them. You have the right to hear the real answer, unfiltered by managers who don't understand what they are hearing, straight frrom the horse's mouth.

Instead of the other end.

Cheers!