Category Archives: United States

St. Petersburg, FL – Worker crushed while removing fluid from hydraulic elevator pit

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Mark Allen Johnson, 45, of Greater Northdale, Florida, was fatally crushed around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 24, 2013, while working to remove oil and water from the pit of a hydraulic elevator at the TradeWinds Resort Hotel in Saint Petersburg Beach, Florida. Mr. Johnson was working with a co-worker for SWS Environmental Services, a company that specializes in spill response, in response to an elevator inspection two days prior that noted excessive fluid in the pit. St. Petersburg Beach Fire Chief Ernie Hand described Johnson as apparently standing halfway between the ground floor landing and the interior of the elevator shaft when the elevator descended on top of him, crushing him. An eyewitness stated that she had just exited an adjacent elevator when she saw the elevator car suddenly drop “a couple of feet” onto Johnson. The other employee for SWS, who was not in the pit at the time, was not injured. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and OSHA are investigating the incident.

Cristen Rensel, of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, stated that “The elevator had been locked with a key by maintenance of the TradeWinds,” and that Johnson and his co-worker “had been working for about 40 minutes” prior to the incident. Based on that statement, it is not clear that proper lockout procedures were followed. Generally, building owners do not employ their own staff of elevator personnel, hiring elevator contractors instead. The maintenance staff of the TradeWinds may not have received proper training on elevator maintenance and lockout procedures. From the perspective of building maintenance staff, “locking out” an elevator may mean a variety of things, for example, placing an elevator on independent service, which would prevent the elevator from responding to hall calls, but is not intended for use when working under or on top of an elevator car. None of the reports mentioned that the elevator’s pit stop switch or main line disconnect switch were opened to prevent movement of the elevator. Furthermore, it is not clear whether Mr. Johnson or his co-worker had ever received any training specific to elevator maintenance that would have qualified them as “elevator personnel” in accordance with the standards set forth in ASME A17.1, “Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators”. The website for SWS Environmental Services describes a variety of services they provide but makes no mention of the word “elevator”. The A17.1 limits access to elevator pits to elevator personnel only. Furthermore, the A17.1 restricts hoistway door unlocking devices to elevator personnel only; it is not clear who unlocked the hoistway door nearest the pit while the elevator was above the landing.

Assuming that either the pit stop switch or the main line disconnect switch had actually been opened in accordance with appropriate safety procedures, another possibility is that the elevator’s hydraulic system had failed, possibly due to bad valves or seals, leading to a relief of the pressure in the hydraulic jack and causing the elevator to descend unexpectedly. The code year of the elevator was not reported in any of the source articles noted below, but generally older hydraulic elevators were not required to be equipped with “plunger grippers” which would retard or stop the unexpected movement of the elevator in the event of a hydraulic system failure.

UPDATE (April 26, 2013): A follow-up report from the Tampa Bay Times corroborates our earlier speculation that none of the individuals involved were trained elevator personnel. Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation spokeswoman Sandi Copes Poreda released an email stating that Johnson was not a certified elevator technician and added, “Anyone working inside the elevator or hoistway must either be a Certified Elevator Technician or under the direct supervision of a Certificate of Competency holder. We do not know whether the other worker on site was licensed.” Lt. Joel Granata of St. Petersburg Beach Fire and Rescue added that the elevator’s main line disconnect switch was not locked out when first responders arrived in response to reports of the accident.

The State of Florida sent elevator inspector Frank Matuszewski to examine the elevator in response to the incident. Mr. Matuszewski noted 13 violations, mostly minor, but notably including a “leak in the muffler”. In the context of electric hydraulic elevators, the “muffler” is not what a layman might expect. Hydraulic pumps may not run perfectly, imparting pressure pulsations within the hydraulic fluid, which can cause noise and vibration inside the elevator. These pulses can also cause resonant vibration in adjoining machinery, causing additional vibration and noise in the elevator. A hydraulic muffler is used to reduce such vibrations.

The story was widely reported by local media. Video reports of the story are included below.

The sources used for the above story include:

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.

Upper West Side, NY – One-year old boy trips, get hand stuck in escalator

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According to WABC 7 Eyewitness News, a 21-month old boy got his hand stuck between two steps in an escalator after he tripped and fell around 10:48a.m., Friday, February 22, 2013. The boy was riding with an adult on the escalator, located inside a Barnes & Noble bookstore at the corner of Broadway and 82nd Street when the incident occurred. According to an unnamed employee, the escalator automatically stopped shortly after the boy’s hand became entrapped. The boy was able to free himself shortly thereafter. Firefighters arrived and treated the boy at the scene for a hand laceration. Read the full story published February 22, 2013.

This young boy was incredibly fortunate in that the step-upthrust safety device apparently functioned as designed. The step-upthrust device automatically stops an escalator when an obstruction is detected in the lower-curve area, which would cause a step to be elevated higher than usual, which in turn would cause an impact with the comb plates at the bottom landing. Although the child did suffer a cut to his hand, his injuries might have been far more severe or even fatal if the escalator had continued to run while his hand was entrapped. This incident also highlights an important but basic elevator safety rule: always hold a child’s hand when riding an escalator. Never allow children to play around or run on escalators.

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.

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.

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.