PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WATE) — Dollywood was cited after an employee was injured in March 2025 ahead of the park’s opening.
The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted an on-site inspection to determine the circumstances that led to the injury in March 2025. Following their investigation, the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation, which owns Dollywood, was ordered to pay a fine of $6,400.
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A narrative within TOSHA’s report explains that at 10 a.m. on March 10, an employee was helping adjust a belt on the Smoky Mountain River Rampage lift. As he went to hand a tool to another employee, his jacket got caught in a coupling and entangled his left arm. The employee was airlifted out of the park and hospitalized.
The TOSHA report outlined two serious violations found in the motor-driven boat lift at the Smoky Mountain River Rampage ride. The lift has two conveyor belts and two head pulleys that are interconnected by an unguarded rotating shaft and coupling. The report concluded that it was possible to guard the rotating shaft without interfering with the ride’s operation.
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The first violations list that the pulleys, which create ingoing nip points, on the boat lift were not guarded properly. The second violation involves the shaft couplings. According to the report, the couplings were not built to prevent hazards from bolts, nuts, setscrews, or revolving surfaces. TOSHA explained that employees must perform tasks within a foot of lifts while the mechanism is in motion, creating the opportunity for injury if not properly guarded…