Author Archives: peter

Atlanta, GA – Worker gets ladder, foot trapped in mall escalator

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According to WSB-TV Channel 2 Atlanta, a sprinkler technician was injured around 10 a.m., Thursday, February 21, 2013, when a ladder he was carrying became wedged in an escalator, creating a gap wide enough for his foot to enter and become entrapped. The man and a partner were transporting the ladder from the P2 level to the P3 level when the ladder became wedged between two of the steps, creating a gap between the step and the skirt panel. The victim’s foot was entrapped in the escalator’s skirt for approximately one hour, until fire fighters responded and used heavy equipment and a “cribbing” technique to provide a gap wide enough to allow the man’s foot to be pulled back out. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital. Read the fully story by WSB-TV2, published February 21, 2013.

Although newer escalators are equipped with numerous safety devices that are intended to prevent the escalator from continuing to run when an object jams the steps or skirt panels, public records indicate that the shopping center, Phipps PLaza, a Simon property, was built in 1969, which suggests that the escalator may have only been required to comply with a 1960s edition of the ASME A17.1, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators. This also incident highlights the dangers of using escalators to transport materials. When riding an escalator, always pay careful attention for untied shoe laces, loose fitting clothing, and especially rubber “Crocs” type sandals, as these can all become entrapped between steps, leading to escalator accidents similar to these.

Mumbai, India – 18 year-old girl crushed to death under elevator while sweeping pit

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According to Indian news agency DNA (Daily News & Analysis, an 18 year-old girl was crushed to death Wednesday, January 9, 2013, after she entered the hoistway, apparently to sweep the pit. The report is somewhat unusual in that it specifically describes that the motor of the “old lift” somehow crashed down on top of her, fatally crushing her. The victim died at the scene. An employee at the building who was not named described the building as “dilapidated”. A comment on that article also notes that there may have been other similar incidents at that location. Read the full story, published January 10, 2013.

Incidents like this highlight why it is important that access to elevator pits, hoistways, and machine spaces is restricted to elevator personnel only. It is not yet clear how the victim was able to access the pit, however, the original news report indicates that it was apparently part of her “sweeping duty” to sweep the pit. In the United States, building maintenance and housekeeping staff are generally prohibited by code from entering these restricted spaces. Cleaning of the pit should be part of the maintenance control program followed by the elevator contractor during periodic preventive maintenance visits.

Jersey City, NJ – Malfunctioning PATH escalator runs backwards, injuring six

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Multiple news sources are reporting that at around 9 a.m. Monday, January 7, 2013, an escalator at the Exchange Place PATH station malfunctioned while numerous commuters were on board, leading to several injuries.

The incident, which was partially caught on video and posted to YouTube (below), depicts one of the station’s escalators, which was running upwards, suddenly reversed direction, as passengers piled up at the bottom and others tried to walk upwards to avoid getting dumped at the bottom landing. At least one man in the video appeared to have jumped on and clung to the balustrade between the escalators.

Reports regarding the number of victims were inconsistent, but it appears that between four and six victims suffered mostly minor injuries such as cuts and bruises, although at least one victim was hospitalized. The end of the YouTube video appears to depict a woman screaming in pain, although she was not seen on screen and the extent of her injuries remained unclear. Also, it appears that at some point after the malfunction started, the escalator stopped. It was not clear whether it was stopped because the malfunction tripped a built-in safety device or if someone activated the emergency stop switch.

The station has three 150-foot long escalators that provide access to and from the subway platform 75-feet below street level. The escalators are maintained by Schindler.

The station was badly flooded during Hurricane Sandy, although it was not known whether flood damage may have been a factor in this incident. One of the escalators was still out of service at the time of the incident, which now leaves the station with one functioning escalator.

Read the reports, published December 7, 2013, by the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, and My FOX NY.

East Harlem, NY – Elderly man in critical condition after elevator crushes his legs

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According to ABC 7 Eyewitness News, an 85 year-old man was left in critical condition after an elevator in his public housing apartment building crushed both his legs around 5 p.m. Sunday, December 30, 2012. Firefighters reported that when they arrived, the elevator was stuck between the first and second floor, with the man’s body inside the cab, and his legs dangling outside the cab on the first floor. Firefighters used air bags and other extrication methods to free the man’s legs and pull him up into the elevator cab. The victim was rushed to nearby Harlem Hospital where he was listed in critical condition, with both of his legs fractured. Read the full story by ABC 7 Eyewitness News, published December 31, 2012, and watch the video report below.

Interestingly, this is the third consecutive year in which a passenger was seriously injured or killed by an elevator in New York City that moved with the doors open during the month of December. On December 25, 2010, a woman was seriously injured at SUNY Downstate Medical Center when an elevator ascended unexpectedly while she was in the open doorway, and on December 14, 2011, Suzanne Hart was fatally crushed under similar circumstances. In both of those cases, an elevator mechanic was found to have used a wire jumper to bypass the elevator’s door interlock and gate switch safety circuits. Although there is no information yet as to what caused this incident, given that the firefighters described the man’s legs as “dangling outside” the elevator, it is very likely that the elevator moved while its doors were still open, and while the man was within the door threshold. It is not yet clear why the elevator would have moved while the doors were still open. The Department of Buildings will likely conduct an investigation and we will publish the results of that investigation when that information becomes available to us.

The New York City Housing Authority is notably the single largest operator of elevators in the City of New York, and is responsible for over 3,300 elevators in nearly 2,600 residential buildings, serving over 400,000 residents. The reliability of elevators in New York City’s public housing has long been a sore point with residents. A memorable New York Times article published March 12, 2005 famously opened with, “Up, up, up it rises, this elevator redolent of urine, groaning toward the rooftop of another tired building in the Queensbridge public housing development, the largest in Queens, in New York, in North America.” On June 12, 2012, the New York City Housing Authority reached a settlement with tenants in a class action lawsuit that alleged the Housing Authority let its fleet of elevators fall into “widespread disrepair and dysfunction.” The case is Brito v. New York City Housing Authority, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No 09-1621.

Chester, PA – Elevator mechanic struck, killed by falling dumbwaiter at Harrah’s Philadelphia

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According to ABC 6 Action News, an elevator mechanic working on a dumbwaiter at Harrah’s Philadelphia in Chester, Pennsylvania, was killed when the dumbwaiter unexpectedly fell on top of him. The accident occurred around 4 p.m., Saturday, December 29, 2012. Police confirmed that they recovered the man’s body from the dumbwaiter shaft, but did not release the victim’s identity. Read the full story by ABC 6 Action News, published December 30, 2012, and watch the video below.

Details regarding the circumstances of the accident were limited. The Philadelphia Inquirer later reported on December 31, 2012, that the 52 year-old victim from Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, was a sub-contractor, not a casino employee. The incident dumbwaiter was used to deliver food to restaurants within the casino. They also noted that Chester officials and OSHA were still investigating the incident.

Generally, dumbwaiters are required to have safety systems that are comparable to the safety devices required on passenger elevators.

Sabhan, Kuwait – Elevator mechanic killed, another injured; crushed by falling car

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According to the Kuwait Times, an elevator accident left one elevator mechanic dead and another seriously injured in the Sabhan neighborhood of Kuwait. Although details of the circumstances are scant, it appears that both mechanics were working in the hoistway pit of an interior ministry building at the time the accident occurred. The elevator unexpectedly descended, crushing the two men, killing one instantly. Read the full story by the Kuwait Times, published December 27, 2012.

In the United States, elevators have long been required to have stop switches in the pit to prevent unexpected movement of the car when working in the pit. It is standard procedure to ensure that the elevator is under control before entering the pit or accessing the car top. Crushing accidents involving the pit often involve improperly trained personnel accessing the pit, for example to retrieve dropped keys. However it is critical that only properly trained elevator personnel enter the pit, to prevent this type of incident. It is not clear whether or not the elevator in this incident was equipped with a stop switch in the pit, or whether the mechanics had followed procedures to gain control of the elevator before entering the pit. We will update this story if more details emerge.

Bankstown, Sydney, Australia – Toddler loses three fingers to shopping center escalator

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According to numerous Australian news sources, a three-year old boy fell on an escalator at Bankstown Shopping Centre, causing him to lose three fingers when they apparently became jammed in the escalator’s moving parts.

Read the full story by the Sydney Morning Herald, published December 21, 2012.

Although circumstances around the injury remain unclear, the description provided by the Sydney Morning Herald suggest that the young boy’s fingers were perhaps caught between the steps as the steps collapsed together at the destination landing. Another possibility is that the toddler fell as he approached the destination landing, and perhaps fell in such a way that his fingers were entrapped by a missing or damaged comb plate.

Modern escalators are equipped with safety devices that would normally prevent either scenario from causing serious injuries. For example, if the boy’s fingers were trapped in the comb plate, a comb plate safety switch would normally detect that a foreign object (such as the boy’s fingers) were trapped in the comb plate, causing the comb plate to rise, and stopping the escalator. However, because a toddler’s fingers are particularly delicate, it is plausible that the safety devices, if they were present, were not activated because even a small amount of force would still cause severe trauma.

We will publish updates on this story should they become available.

Washington Heights, NY – Building superintendent trapped in pit, suffers head injury

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According to the New York Post, the superintendent at a building in Washington Heights was seriously injured Thursday, August 16, 2012 when he was struck in the head by an elevator counterweight. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, went in the pit around 8:40 a.m. in order to retrieve keys that a tenant had accidentally dropped through the gap between the floor sills. The elevator had apparently ascended to the sixth floor as the counterweight descended into the pit, striking the victim’s head. Read the full story by the New York Post.

A later article by DNAinfo.com New York reported that the building’s managing agent, Bronstein Properties LLC, identified the victim as Armando Bennett. Bronstein Properties’ spokesman Joe Masino noted, “I don’t allow my supers to go down the shaft, [they] should call the elevator company.”

If the spokeman’s statement is accurate, then it is not clear how the superintendent opened the hoistway door in order to gain access to the pit, unless it was a walk-in pit, which it does not appear to be given that the victim was describing as doing “down the shaft” to access the pit. Based on the media accounts of the accident, it appears that the victim may have entered the pit without first gaining control of the car, for example, via the stop switch in the pit. Assuming the superintendent entered the pit without gaining control of the car, and the door closed behind him, the elevator would resume automatic operation, for example, responding to the a sixth (top) floor call, which would have then sent the counterweight into the pit at full speed.

Possession of hoistway door keys is restricted by ASME A17.1 Rule 8.1.2, which covers Group 1, “Restricted” keys. Keys in Group 1 are restricted to elevator personnel only. Unfortunately it is all too common that unauthorized individuals obtain hoistway door keys. This accident serves as a reminder that an elevator hoistway is one of the most dangerous areas in a building, and only properly trained elevator personnel should ever access the hoistway. If an object falls into the pit, it is critical to wait for elevator personnel to retrieve the item to prevent injuries like this.

Mount Vernon, NY – 11 year-old boy falls down elevator shaft

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According to NBC New York, an 11-year old boy fell three floors down an elevator shaft around 12:30pm on Sunday, December 9, 2012. According to police, the victim and other young boys were playing in the building hallway when “the elevator doors unexpectedly opened and one of the boys fell in”. The condition of the boy was not immediately clear, but presumably the boy was hospitalized and sustained serious injury.

Read the full story by NBC New York, published December 11, 2012.

The description of the incident according to police and according to NBC New York indicates that the boy was rescued through the roof of the elevator car. Given that, the elevator doors could not have “unexpectedly opened” in the sense that the doors themselves opened. Rather, based on the description of the accident, involving boys playing in the hallway, it appears that the victim likely struck the door with force, causing the door gibbs to fail, causing the lower retaining door gibbs to break away, thus allowing the bottom of the hoistway door to swing open into the hoistway enough to allow the boy to fall into the open hoistway.

This is similar to the case in which a wheelchair-bound man in Korea crashed his motorized wheelchair into elevator doors, causing the door gibbs to fail, and causing the man to fall into the hoistway. Interestingly, Korea requires that hoistway doors bear a sign with a pictograph that depicts the hazard created by leaning on, or otherwise applying force to, hoistway doors. This appears to be a case in which the hoistway door was forced to bear excessive forces and ultimately failed, exposing a member of the public to the potentially fatal hazards of the hoistway.

Bellevue, WA – Bellevue Square Macy’s escalator rips itself apart, injuring 4

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The Seattle Times and Q13 FOX News are reporting an escalator malfunction in the Macy’s at Bellevue Square shopping center, in Bellevue, Washington.

According to the Seattle Times, “Four people fell when an escalator inside Bellevue Square shopping center malfunctioned tonight, according to the Bellevue Fire Department. A man, woman and two 3-year-olds were taken to local hospitals after the 7:21 p.m. malfunction at Macy’s. The man sustained minor injuries while the three others were taken as a precaution, said Bellevue Fire spokesman Troy Donlin.”

According to Q13 FOX News, the state inspectors have been notified about the incident. The cause of the incident remains unclear at this time. Interestingly, both articles include a photo posted on Twitter by an apparent witness. That photo, which was allegedly taken immediately after the incident, clearly depicts the escalator with some of its steps removed, a bystander at the top landing actually holding a step, and with bystanders crowding around the broken escalator. A stroller is seen laying on its side at the top of the frame, behind a crowd. The articles note that a 3-year old was hospitalized as a precaution after the accident, however, it was not clear at the time of writing whether the stroller was involved with the accident.

Escalators are required to be equipped with numerous safety switches that detect potentially hazardous conditions and safely stop the escalator to prevent injuries and equipment damage, for example, a comb impact device, which detects when a step is impacting the comb teeth at the landing.

Read the full story by the Seattle Times, and the full story published Q13 FOX News, both published December 6, 2012.

On December 7, 2012, Bellevue Patch published an article with some additional information. According to that article, the Macy’s was built in 1982 and the escalator was first inspected in 1983. The violation history for the escalator was apparently rather tame, citing only burnt out demarcation lighting and broken comb teeth over the last two years. Both violations are extremely common and not necessarily indicative of anything. That article also notes that Schindler was the escalator contractor at the time of the incident.

The Patch article also notes that the ground floor escalator, which was apparently running in the up direction, malfunctioned “[causing] the top of the steps to pile up.”