Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1961093 - Johnson Controls Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Atlanta East Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 and five coworkers rode the Otis freight elevator from the third to the ninth floor. The elevator operator got out of the car and held the hoistway door open. As Employee #1 was exiting, the extension cord he had coiled around his left shoulder became caught on the elevator control, holding it in the 'up' position. The elevator car started up, pulling him into the shaft. He fell to the bottom of the pit, suffering multiple head and body injuries. Employee #1 was killed. The freight elevator had been installed in April, 1924. It had a toggle-type deadman control which, when pushed and held in one direction, took the elevator up, and vice versa. The elevator was being changed to a pulley automatic system. New hoistway doors had been installed but were not yet interlocked, so the elevator was able to move even though the doors were open. The elevator car gate had also been removed.

Keywords: DEADMAN CONTROL, ELEVATOR SHAFT, ELEVATOR GATE, ELEVATOR, FALL, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, INTERLOCK