Category Archives: Serious Injuries

Arlington, VA – Elevator mechanic nearly loses hand after getting caught in traction sheave

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An elevator mechanic in his 60s nearly lost his hand on Wednesday, November 7, 2013, around 9:45 a.m. local time, when his hand became entrapped by a traction sheave while he was working on an elevator at 1300 17th Street North, a high rise office building in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. The victim’s coworkers immediately called for paramedics, who arrived shortly after the coworkers were able to free the victim’s hand. Reports indicate that the victim’s hand was almost entirely severed, however, it was not clear at the time of writing whether doctors would be able to save his hand.

Traction sheaves are essentially the “pulley” through which an elevator’s hoist cables pass over, allowing the hoist motor to move the cab. As a result, the weight on each cable at the sheave is generally equal to the weight of the elevator car, the weight of any load within the car, the counterweight, the hoist cables, and half the weight of the traveling cable beneath the car. As a result, it is easy to understand how the incredible force of a sheave entrapment could result in a partial amputation of a limb. Given the victim’s age, it was likely that he was a seasoned elevator industry veteran, so it is not clear what factors contributed to the accident. Elevator mechanics are trained to understand the various hazards that motor rooms present, however even industry veterans can make mistakes. Working around sheaves is particularly dangerous, and sheaves will often bear orange warning labels indicating the entrapment hazard for this reason. Loose fitting clothing, tools, long hair, and even long facial hair can easily become entrapped when working around a moving traction sheave. Because of the hazards that elevator motor rooms present, the riding public should never attempt to access an elevator machine room or the equipment inside without proper training.

Sources reporting this story include:

Denver, CO – Broncos fan severely injured after falling from escalator at Sports Authority Field

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An adult male was severely injured on August 30, 2013, around 9:30p.m. local time, when he apparently fell from an escalator at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, the home stadium of the Denver Broncos. The stadium was hosting a pre-season game between the Broncos and the Arizona Cardinals when the incident occurred. Denver police released few details about the man, the extent of his injuries, or whether alcohol may have been a factor. However police did confirm that they were investigating the incident as an accident, and that the victim was conscious and breathing when he was transported to a nearby hospital after suffering serious injuries from his fall. ABC7, The Denver Channel, reported that eyewitnesses stated that the man may have suffered from a medical condition which caused him to lose his balance.

Sources reporting this story include:

Paramus, NJ – 8 year-old girl suffers severe injuries after leg entrapped in Garden State Plaza escalator

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An 8-year-old girl was severely injured after her leg became entrapped by an escalator at the Westfield Garden State Plaza, located in Paramus, New Jersey, around 11:45 a.m. on the morning of Friday, August 16, 2013. The girl and her mother boarded the escalator on the lower level, headed towards the first floor. As they reached the top landing, the girl’s right foot apparently became entrapped between two steps, subsequently causing her leg to become entrapped as well. A nearby bystander reacted quickly and activated the emergency stop switch, which stopped the escalator, but the girl remained entrapped for some time until fire, police, and nearby bystanders were able to disassemble the landing to free the girl. No information was available the the time of publication that indicated what factors contributed to the incident, but we will continue to update this story as new information becomes available.

Watch this early report from ABC7 Eyewitness News:

According to escalator registration records published by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, there are 96 escalators registered in Paramus, New Jersey, and 20 of them are located at the Garden State Plaza. The mall was originally constructed in 1957, although it was not immediately clear what code year was applicable to these escalators. The Garden State Plaza is also notably home to what is reportedly the shortest escalator in the United States, and possibly the western hemisphere. The elevator photography community on YouTube has posted numerous videos of these escalators, including this video below, via YouTube user ih8thyssenkrupp:

Sources reporting this story include:

San Antonio, TX – 20 injured after convention center escalator suddenly reverses, dumps passengers

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On Wednesday, May 15, 2013, around 1 p.m., approximately 20 people suffered mostly minor injuries when an escalator at Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, malfunctioned and suddenly reversed direction uncontrollably, causing passengers to be dumped at the bottom landing. Fourteen of the victims were hospitalized; the remaining six were treated at the scene. The convention center was hosting a group of Dish Network employees at the time of the incident.

According to eyewitnesses, the employees had just concluded their lunch break and were returning to their meeting when the incident occurred. Eyewitnesses also described seeing an escalator mechanic working on the escalator before the incident occurred.

A spokesperson for the City of San Antonio revealed that KONE is the contractor responsible for the escalators are the convention center. The spokesperson also confirmed that KONE was on-site during the event which is “normal procedure during large conventions,” however they did not confirm eyewitness reports of KONE servicing the incident escalator earlier that day.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations is investigating the incident but has not released any statement regarding the cause. A follow-up story by KENS5 San Antonio noted that numerous lawsuits had already been filed against the city.

Sources reporting this incident include:

The story was widely reported by local television news stations. Where available, the reports are embedded below.

NBC News 4 San Antonio spoke with a number of eyewitnesses for their evening broadcast:

An early report from KSAT-TV, an ABC affiliate in San Antonio:

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KENS5 San Antonio evening report:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Korrukkupet, Chennai, India – Man dies, two seriously injured after elevator crashes at wedding hall

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According to the Times of India, a 55-year-old man died and two people were seriously injured when an elevator cable snapped in a marriage hall in Korrukkupet on Sunday afternoon. According to the report, the elevator plunged from the third floor to the ground floor after the cables gave way. It was unclear at the time of the report whether overspeed governors or other types of safety devices are required by any applicable elevator codes in India, however, according to the article, the elevator was only six months old.

Read the full story by the Times of India, published December 3, 2012.

A follow-up article by the New Indian Express, published December 7, 2012, revealed much greater detail regarding the circumstances of the accident.

According to that article, the victims were riding the elevator when it stopped suddenly and entrapped the victims. The victims signaled for help, and in an effort to free the entrapped passengers from the elevator, untrained employees of the wedding hall apparently went into the motor room and released the elevator’s brakes, sending the elevator into a free fall. Normally, the counterweight will cause the counterweight, not the elevator cab, to free fall, however, it is possible that with the weight of four or more passengers that the counterweight’s balance might be exceeded, causing the elevator to fall downwards when the brakes were released. Interestingly, the article notes that if the employees had “phased” (or stuttered) their release of the brake, the elevator would not have fallen and the victims would not have been injured.

The New Indian Express article also includes a quote from an official that investigated the accident that described the situation:

“In their anxiety to quickly bring the occupants of the lift out, men who were not properly trained or authorised to handle the system released the lever without realising that it could lead to a free fall.”