Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for California: Elevator Service Technician Dies After Being Crushed by an Elevator Counter-Weight.

摘要

A 42-year-old, white, non-Hispanic, male elevator service technician (the victim) died after being crushed by an elevator counter-weight while at work. The victim was an employee of an elevator repair company and was doing general maintenance contract work for a hotel. He was working alone at the time of the incident. The service dispatcher at his company had tried to reach him (via his pager) on several occasions earlier on the afternoon of the incident. When the dispatcher was unable to reach the victim, another service technician (co-worker) was sent to the hotel to find him. The co-worker met with the hotel's chief engineer and together they looked in the area where the victim had last been seen working. The victim was found in an elevator lying over counterweights and pinned between spreader beams on the second floor of the hotel. The victim may have been using the spreader beam between car no. 1 and no. 2 as a work station. The co-worker stated that the victim was obviously already deceased. The hotel engineer called 911 and police and paramedics arrived a short time later. The CA/FACE investigator concluded that, in order to prevent similar future occurrences, employers should: (1) require rigid screens or walls between adjacent hoistways with side-mounted counterweights; and (2) have signs posted between the elevator spreader beams stating that caution should be taken due to the position of the counterweights.