Monthly Archives: March 2013

Schaumburg, IL – Three elderly victims suffer minor injuries in escalator mishap

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According to the Chicago Tribune, two women and one man, all in their 80s, suffered cuts and abrasions during an escalator accident that occurred at 11:08 a.m., Saturday, March 23, 2013 in the Nordstrom department store at the Woodfield Mall.

For an unknown reason, not currently attributed to any mechanical malfunction, the male victim started to fall and attempted to grab his wife to regain his balance. Unfortunately, his wife then fell and toppled onto the third victim. All three victims were taken to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries. A police spokesperson stated that none of the injuries were life threatening, and that police had reviewed surveillance video of the incident. Read the full story at ChicagoTribune.com, published March 23, 2013.

Assuming that there was no specific mechanical deficiency that led to these injuries, this incident highlights the everyday dangers of riding an escalator. Persons with limited mobility, or other conditions that could lead to loss of balance (such as vertigo), should avoid escalators and use elevators instead.

Although many able-bodied people are able to safely ride escalators (and even walk on them while they are in motion without incident), trip and fall accidents associated with escalators are quite common, and unfortunately, they are often more severe than trip and fall accidents involving stairs due to the nature of escalators. Escalators often have sharp, collapsing steps with higher step heights than a comparable staircase. This can also make it difficult for a falling rider to right themselves.

A study published in 2008 found that nearly 40,000 adults age 65 and older were injured on escalators between 1991 and 2005. However, the author of the study also noted that escalator-related injuries still comprised only a small proportion of the total number of injuries to older adults.

Tampa, FL – Man suffers fatal fall down elevator hoistway at Tampa International Airport

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Chad Wolfe, a 31-year-old auto mechanic from West Newtown, Pennsylvania, was found dead around 3 a.m. on March 15, 2013, after he apparently fell down an elevator hoistway at Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Florida. Initial reports noted that the victim was intoxicated and behaving erratically, including climbing on a tree in the airport lobby, moments before the accident occurred. The medical examiner’s report noted that the victim had an “oil-like substance” on his hands, and that the investigating detective noted that it appeared the victim “forced open [the] elevator door to gain entry into the elevator shaft.”

Initial reports noted that the hoistway door interlock on the elevator had been “compromised” and that it “had been tampered with” but added that there was no indication that the interlock had malfunctioned prior to the incident. The elevator had passed its most recent inspection before the accident.

This case serves as an unfortunate reminder that the general public should never try to access an elevator hoistway for any reason. The hoistway door interlock, like any other mechanical or electronic device, can be damaged by abuse or vandalism, leading to failures, which can result in unfortunate situations like this where a passenger was able to pry the doors open with their bare hands. Hoistway doors should remain fully closed and locked any time the elevator is not present at that landing. An open hoistway should always be treated as an imminently dangerous fatal hazard.

Download the medical examiner’s report, as provided by 10 News WTSP, or watch their video reports, below:

Sources reporting this incident locally include:

San Francisco, CA – Man fatally crushed in BART elevator shaft

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According to the Huffington Post, a man was crushed by an elevator in San Francisco’s BART subway station on Monday, March 11, 2013. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain somewhat unclear, but the report indicates that a passenger boarded the elevator and registered a cab call in the up direction before hearing “a crunching sound and a man yelp.” The elevator then stopped with that passenger entrapped. The entrapped passenger called for help, and after being successfully rescued, authorities searched the hoistway and found the victim, who was immediately pronounced dead.

Strangely, BART Police Lieutenant John Conneely indicated that “the man may have been sleeping atop the elevator” but that it was unclear how he entered the hoistway or how long he had been inside. Conneely also indicated that personal belongings were found on the car top, but it was not certain that they belonged to the victim. Read the full story published March 11, 2013.

It is unclear if the elevator had a manually operable “run/stop” switch, however, it is unlikely that it would have made a difference in this case, since the only indication that an accident had occurred was when the entrapped passenger heard the victim being crushed.

This highly unusual incident demonstrates that an elevator hoistway is perhaps the most dangerous place a person can be. No one should ever enter the hoistway besides elevator personnel and emergency personnel that have been trained to safely access these spaces. Also in this case, the entrapped passenger responded correctly by waiting for help.

Salimiya, Kuwait City, Kuwait – Worker loses fingers caught in elevator door

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According to Emirates 24/7, a Filipino worker at a restaurant in the Salimiya neighborhood of Kuwait City lost some of his fingers after they became caught between the elevator and the elevator door on Monday, March 4, 2013.

Kuwait police described the elevator as “lacking minimum safety standards”, and the article notes that emergency personnel “had to smash the lift’s door” to release the man. Read the reporting article, published March 4, 2013.

Typically, elevators have door reopening devices such as “safety edges” or “scanner edges” which detect obstructions in the path of the door. A “safety edge” is typically a rubber bumper that retracts when it comes into contact with an obstruction. A “scanner edge” uses beams of light to detect when a beam is interrupted by an obstruction. However, even when these devices are present, there is still the possibility that something as small as a human finger could become entrapped between the outer hoistway doors.

Generally speaking, door entrapment accidents result in severe injuries if the elevator runs while the unsafe condition exists. Similar door entrapment incidents have occurred in the past when garments such as scarfs become entrapped and the elevator runs, leading to strangulation.