Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300612850 - P.R.'S Contracting

Inspection Information - Office: Manhattan Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, the owner of PR's Contracting, was installing a new elevator hoistway lobby door in a building in Manhattan, NY. The crew consisted of his father and another helper. Employee #1 was standing on a steel structural beam in the elevator shaft directly under elevator car #5, which had been parked one floor above. He was installing a door closer on the shaft wall and was attaching it to the newly installed lobby door from the shaft side when the car suddenly came down and pinned him. Employee #1 was killed. The OSHA investigation determined that the elevator was not locked out at the main power source, which would have been the safest way to do the job. It was impossible to determine what initially caused the car to move downward. An electric circuit at the door closer may have triggered the computer-operated elevator to return to the lobby, which it was programmed to do. The crew had "keyed out" the car at the key controls in the car, but two keys were turned on and one apparently overrode the other, demonstrating that a lockout at the main breaker was the only sure way to prevent movement. Other measures that would have provided additional safety included installing a temporary elevator rail clamp to prevent movement, shutting the pit stop switch, erecting a work platform in the shaft, and parking the elevator at a higher level in the building.

Keywords: INSTALLING, UNSECURED, PINNED, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, INTERLOCK, LOCKOUT, ELEVATOR, WORK PLATFORM