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Deaths and Injuries Involving Elevators or Escalators



Details

  • Personal Author:
    McCann M
  • Description:
    This report is an update of a 2006 CPWR report; it uses the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from 2007-2009 and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from 2006-2010. Incidents involving elevators and escalators each year kill 31 people and seriously injure about 17,000 people in the United States, according to CPWR analysis of data provided by the BLS (1992-2009) and the CPSC (1997-2010). Elevators are the prime culprit, causing about 90% of the deaths and 60% of the serious injuries. Half of the annual deaths are to people working in or near elevators - including those installing, repairing, and maintaining elevators, and working in or near elevator shafts. Fifty-six percent of the deaths of workers working in or near elevator shafts were due to falls into the shaft. Incidents where workers were caught in/between moving parts of elevators caused 18% of deaths, and incidents where workers are struck by elevators or counterweights caused 16% of deaths. Deaths related to escalators are much less frequent; of those deaths, 75% involve falls. Recommendations to prevent elevator- and escalator-related deaths and injuries include ensuring that: 1) Workplace protective practices and training are adequate. In particular: de-energizing and locking out electrical circuits and mechanical equipment when elevators and escalators are out of service or being repaired; establishing a permit-required, confined-space program on safety practices for work in elevator shafts; and providing fall protection during work in or near elevator shafts. 2) Employers have an adequate inspection and maintenance program. 3) Escalator entrapment hazards are eliminated. 4) Employers use only qualified workers for escalator and elevator repair and maintenance established by proper training such as an approved apprenticeship program. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • Publisher:
    CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Cooperative Agreement
  • Genre:
    Report
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Pages in Document:
    1-25
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20058163
  • Citation:
    Silver Spring, MD: CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, 2013 Sep; :1-25
  • Contact Point Address:
    Publications, CPWR, Suite 1000, 8484 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2013
  • NORA Priority Area:
    Construction
  • Performing Organization:
    CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
  • Peer Reviewed:
    False
  • Start Date:
    20090901
  • Source Full Name:
    Deaths and injuries involving elevators or escalators
  • End Date:
    20240831
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:da5ceaa921c25c0db8ca1a46680bec5fc8acc64d1ab721ce40fec9b50bb967dbff55be581291d9175daab07b1b23e739b914e79c39f5b3a9a53cd6b5c86f858d
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 794.87 KB ]
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