Inspection Detail

Inspection: 306447079 - The United States Playing Card Company

Inspection Information - Office: Cincinnati Area Office

Investigation Summary

On March 31, 2003, Employee #1, a stock handler, was moving two rolls of paper between floors using a Shepard/Dover 10,000 lb. freight elevator. She placed the two rolls on the elevator car with a battery powered hand truck (walker/rider model Crown brand). The elevator car and structure collapsed. The elevator is known in the elevator industry as a 2 to 1 roping system and has a wire rope lifting system. It was installed in the 1960's. The elevator car was attached to the wire rope header system by its side rails or stiles. The car fell and rotated about 90 degrees, when the left side stile broke loose from the header system. Employee #1 was pinned and crushed between the left side wall, the rolls of paper, and the hand truck. The elevator was current on all its inspections and certificates and was not overloaded as it had less than 9,000 lbs. It took about six hours to secure the elevator from collapsing again and to extricate the body. Employee #1 was pronounced dead. The Coroner's office later listed the cause of death as "accidental" and "mechanical asphyxia".

Keywords: COLLAPSE, CRUSHED, ELEVATOR