Deaf Ride Operator

[Mikey]

So yesterday I was sitting down in the employee cafeteria eating lunch, radio turned down, chowing down on some fried chicken procured be the lowest bidder and cooked in three day old canola oil. I overheard some employees in another department joking about another employee who is deaf and has had aspirations to be a ride operator at the park. This past weekend I went to go find this employee to get his side of the story and to see for myself if he would be a qualified candidate for the OPs department. By the time I found out what location he was working in he had already gone home for the day, so I went to go find his file.

He started with the company in 2008, he was promoted to a lead at one point, and has an incredible amount of guest compliments. He is also a third year mechanical engineering student. Every year he has applied for an OPs position and been denied each time only to be placed in another department with out explanation. It was quite clear to me why this happened, and when I approached the people who ultimately made the decision, the only answer I got out of them was "he's deaf". After digging into every single employee manual, department manual, SOP, and corporate policy I could find, I could not find a single thing to say that being deaf is a disqualifying offense as an operator. So I began the paperwork to administratively transfer him into the operations department.

This morning I had a meeting with him to discuss the opportunity which took all of 30 seconds for him to say yes, and explained to him the limitations that would unfortunately have to be imposed and the skills that would be required to get the job done. I explained to him that for liability reasons he could not operate any single operator ride or any ride designed exclusively for small children. He let me know that he could read lips and that he was able to perform all of the job functions. So he signed the transfer paperwork and I started his departmental training. After that I trained him as an operator and one of the parks major roller coasters.

We finished that and around 2PM and I assigned him to the ride so that the lead run breaks faster. I watched him for a few cycles, ran a bathroom break for the lead, and let him go on to pursue his new position. About an hour later I heard on the radio that the same ride was down for safety, charged to maintenance, because this same kid somehow detected an critical anomaly in the lift motor along with three wheels on train 2 which had burned out bearing sleeves. While its reassuring to me to know that he can detect that with his disability, its not so reassuring that somebody from maintenance signed the ride off for 2nd shift safety check with all of those problems. That's another problem in itself.

So I have been catching a lot of flak today over this, not just because I administratively transferred him with out telling the games supervisor, but because I didn't tell the ops supervisors ether even tho they would have said no. Even tho I outrank them, A few of them were upset enough to confront me and ask me what the hell I was doing, one even went so far as to threaten to pull him off the ride. To which I ultimately responded that this is not only a moral issue, but a legal issue as well being an equal opportunity employee. We have a duty to make reasonable accommodations in these type of situations, and I am amazed that I am the only one who was willing to go the distance to make sure that happened.

I will defend my position and I think that I did the honorable thing in letting him pursue his dreams, what do you guys think?

You did the right thing in my opinion.

[jayman]

yep .
after you explained it i say yes.

[Turbo]

^^ ^ agreed

Your right with the legality of that case. He was being discriminated against for his being deaf which is illegal. You may have saved that company a lot of money and bad press.

I do have mixed feelings about this... I'm not saying anything like a deaf person shouldn't work in rides but there are some safety issues. I have heard things wrong with a ride well before I had seen them. In one instance, hearing, saved severe injury to another employee. Going with coasters, you must be able to hear the dispatch signal ("Clear"). I say this because there have been situations were an employee will "False Clear" a train (clear a train before every employee has checked their respected seats and back in their safe zone). In the case of Wicked Twister, if a train is false cleared, you are instructed to fall to the ground, or dive to the side. If you can't hear the clear or the locking mechanism lifting, you WILL be hit by the ride. Another thing, you must communicate with guests and other employees (sometimes at larger distances). In some to most situations, you must communicate with other ride ops via phone. Another situation would be if a guest is scared and wants to get off or if there is a guest who is in trouble, whether it be health or the ride itself.

I don't want people to read this the wrong way!

On the other side of the situation... I'm not sure why they would give another department "power" to transfer another employee with out consent of both departments. Especially when the person switching the employee is in a different department. I know this wouldn't fly at CP. A department transfer normally takes 3-5 days. This being the form and conference with department head of both departments, uniform changing. And then maybe a week after you started the process, training. Most department transfers are denied unless it is health reasons. Once again, I'm not bashing your decision, just wondering why the system has this, "flaw".

Thats interesting about the maintinence part.

I also agree with coasterdave's point because it may result in accident, but this kid sounds like an intelligent person who is smart enough to do the job right.

[hyyyper]

I understand you should give your personnel equal chances, but when you operate a ride you really to be able to rely on your hearing. The only position would be checking heights at the entrance of a ride.

^Even then, at CP we train to have entrance/crowd listen and watch the ride. This is because these positions are normally away from the load/unload station and my hear/see something different or out of the ordinary. Plus there is so much guest interaction I'm not sure it would work out...

[jayman]

Originally posted by coasterdave

I do have mixed feelings about this... I'm not saying anything like a deaf person shouldn't work in rides but there are some safety issues. I have heard things wrong with a ride well before I had seen them. In one instance, hearing, saved severe injury to another employee. Going with coasters, you must be able to hear the dispatch signal ("Clear"). I say this because there have been situations were an employee will "False Clear" a train (clear a train before every employee has checked their respected seats and back in their safe zone). In the case of Wicked Twister, if a train is false cleared, you are instructed to fall to the ground, or dive to the side. If you can't hear the clear or the locking mechanism lifting, you WILL be hit by the ride. Another thing, you must communicate with guests and other employees (sometimes at larger distances). In some to most situations, you must communicate with other ride ops via phone. Another situation would be if a guest is scared and wants to get off or if there is a guest who is in trouble, whether it be health or the ride itself.

this was my original reaction too. and of course it would be accurate in the context of this guy running the himalayan at the fair or some other sort of " one man show" BUt mikey pointed out that this guy is going to working as part of a team. he's full aware that he wont be running a single operator ride or a kiddieland ride or in the "hear the patron beg to be let out " department . the guy has mechanical and engineering skills and showed that he's capable of knowing when things aren't right.
i say yeah .

AMAZING!I am so glad that you did this. What people do not understand about individuals with disabilities that are mentally stable (such as a physical handicap and not a mental handicap) is that, get this....THEY KNOW THEY HAVE A DISABILITY! These people live with their disability every single day. They know what they are capable of and what they are comfortable with. A similar situation happened where I worked.

About 5 years ago, they hired a deaf lady in my department to work the access point entrances (I work at a museum, and we have access points on each level) One day during lunch I saw her in the cafeteria alone eating lunch so I decided to join her. We had a conversation about life and school and work and whatnot. I found out that she is a graphic design artist and has a master's degree!! I asked why the hell was she working at an access point, she smiled and told me that no one would hire her.

In our marketing department we actually had 3 positions open for graphic designers, and I told her she should apply. She did and no one ever responded or even called her back so I went to the head of marketing and asked why she hasn't even at least had an interview. She told me, that she doesn't think she would make a great asset to our time. At this point I was thinking that's bullshit! Anyway, I went back downstairs and asked my deaf co-worker if she had a portfolio, and she did in her locker. I allowed her to go get it because I wanted to see it. I have never seen anything cooler than her designs! They were amazing. I actually paid her to design me a T-shirt which I still have to this day.

I took her portfolio upstairs and showed it to the marketing department and they still weren't budging. I then scheduled a meeting with the C.E.O. of the Museum and he was EXTREMELY impressed with her skills. I told him that the marketing department wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. After that he got on their asses, and she had a new job a week later.

She is the sweetest lady ever. She thanks me all the time for giving her a career. She showers me with present every year on my birthday and during christmas. I get really neat art T-shirts, and Posters, homeade birthday cards. She is amazing! She totally deserved that job and I am so happy I could help her. You did a great thing Mikey!

[Coasterkidmwm]

If he found a lift motor problem others didn't notice without hearing then I'd say if he is working with his team he should do just fine.

It's not like his team really needs much brain power to listen to guests complaining.

As far the point about Wicked Twister that was brought up, don't have him operate something where that can become an issue (same idea as the no one-man-show restriction)

^In your situation I agree completely but in Mikeys case it more of safety... The more I think about it, if I were an supervisor I probably wouldn't hire a deaf person as a ride op. Like I said earlier I have heard things before I have seen them. In one instance it saved another employees life. I cannot say, but trust me... Maybe its just cause I have been a ride op for 3 years (Going on 4) and the things I have experienced, but for safety reasons I would not place a deaf person in a ride op position.

^Get off your pedestal dude... 3 years is not that long. I think Mikey can attribute more than three years to the credibility of his decision. And if this man is working with an op-team than there are other ears to go around. Give him a break, he's wanted to do this for awhile clearly and deserves the chance to prove himself.

Mikey, that's awesome! I think it's cool you did that.

Hearing can allow for much of the notification of something being wrong, but I dunno.. people have been overcoming disabilities like that for years. There has to be an adaptable alternative.


...

Originally posted by coasterdave

In one instance it saved another employees life. I cannot say, but trust me...

How come you can't say?

I'm trying to come off as that... I said 3 years because it more experience than most people on the site, NOT MIKEY. I cannot say because I signed a contract... I did however start in 2008 and my first ride I was trained on was Wildcat.

[GavG]

I would think if all the relevent risk assesements are completed and within the acceptable values then why not. We live in a world of red tape and legislation, but a world that isn't willing to let people prove themselves capable even when the legislation does allow them.

Never judge a book by its cover is all I can say.

^^Noted, I have no experience in the field, but for you to say you ''would not give any deaf worker the position of ride-op'' is really prejudice, closed-minded, among other adjectives of you; uncreative, lazy, disrespectful.

This deaf worker can do it obviously, and other disabled workers could do similarly- they just need some help and adaptation.

Originally posted by GerstlCrazy

^^Noted, I have no experience in the field, but for you to say you ''would not give any deaf worker the position of ride-op'' is really prejudice, closed-minded, among other adjectives of you; uncreative, lazy, disrespectful.

This deaf worker can do it obviously, and other disabled workers could do similarly- they just need some help and adaptation.

Where did "uncreative, lazy, disrespectful" come from?

I still have been thinking about this and if I were in the situation I may give them a chance. It's just that I rely on hearing so much for my job that I cannot see someone who can't hear in the same position. Like I have been saying, I don't want people to take this the wrong way. It's just could be a safety hazard.

Uncreative; can't defy normal limitations presented to a deaf ride-op
Lazy; won't defy normal limitations presented to a deaf ride-op
Disrespectful; will tell a deaf worker that they can't do a job because they're deaf.

I hear your points though, no worries, nothing against you obviously. I just think if I had a disability and really had an aspiration to do something I thought interesting, I'd hate to know that it would never be realized only because of my disability...

[hyyyper]

Originally posted by GerstlCrazy

^^Noted, I have no experience in the field, but for you to say you ''would not give any deaf worker the position of ride-op'' is really prejudice, closed-minded, among other adjectives of you; uncreative, lazy, disrespectful.

This deaf worker can do it obviously, and other disabled workers could do similarly- they just need some help and adaptation.

I disagree. While a deaf person might be able to do the job. Press buttons, check heights and other things.
But there are also aspects of the job that require that person to hear certain things. Screams, mechanical noise, sirens etc. etc.

In similar fasion, blind people also aren't allowed to drive.

Hmmm, what you did was a tough call. I don't see a huge problem with this, as long as he's not in a position where hearing is critical and there are other teams members around to compensate for his disability. Just keep an eye on him and make sure his co-workers are aware of the situation. As long as he continues to perform well, there's probably nothing to worry about.

The main thing here is that he is working for a team. He can still see and read lips. If someone did scream, or sirens did go off; there would be someone around to notify him. As long as his co-workers are able to let him know if an emergency arises, I don't really see a problem.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Originally posted by GerstlCrazy

Uncreative; can't defy normal limitations presented to a deaf ride-op
Lazy; won't defy normal limitations presented to a deaf ride-op
Disrespectful; will tell a deaf worker that they can't do a job because they're deaf.

I hear your points though, no worries, nothing against you obviously. I just think if I had a disability and really had an aspiration to do something I thought interesting, I'd hate to know that it would never be realized only because of my disability...

Do less drugs and get off your own pedestal

I don't do drugs.

[Mikey]

So if you were in this kids shoes what would you do?