Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-fdisney04mar04" target="_blank">http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ne ws/local/southflorida/sfl-fdisney04mar04</a>,0,6755175.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines >>Performers at Walt Disney World's four Orlando theme parks reported enough injuries in 2005 to affect more than a third of the local 1,900-person work force that portrays 270 different characters, an Orlando Sentinel analysis of injury reports found. Costumes weighing as much as 60 pounds were blamed as the cause of 282 out of 773 injuries, mostly to the neck, shoulder or back, according to reports kept during 2005 by Disney for the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. Incidents ranging from a death in 2004 to minor ailments such as skin rashes afflict the performers, who typically work 30-minute sets posing for photographs, signing autographs, marching in parades and interacting with Disney guests, records show. In recent years Disney recruited a former NASA engineer who specializes in materials, and honed its character-development department -- which spans four nations on three continents -- with research on how the human body endures heat and weight. The company also works with military researchers who examine the effects of heat and heavy loads on soldiers, and has adopted some materials for costumes originally developed for the auto industry and the international space station. "We've benefited from a lot of work that the government's been doing," said Carol Campbell, vice president of character programs and development for Walt Disney Entertainment. "We've been able to take some of their technology to a new level."<<
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> Thought it was Pluto during the daytime parade? << That would be correct.
