Elevator Accident Ignites Fear: How Safe Are They?
After Suzanne Hart was fatally crushed to death by a workplace building elevator in New York, many have been left wondering just how safe city elevators really are.
Hart, a 41-year-old Advertising Executive at Young & Rubicam, was routinely using the elevator to get to her office on Tuesday before tragedy struck.
As she entered the elevator from the ground floor of the mid-town Manhattan office building, it sprung upwards, splitting Hart in half, and leaving a portion of her body outside elevator doors. Although two horrified onlookers were present, they were unable to save Hart and she died on the scene.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
This is not the first death caused by an elevator in the United States. According to a 2010 report by Consumer Watch, almost 30 people die from elevators each year, and there are more than 10,000 elevator related injuries.
There are approximately 900,000 elevators nationwide, each transporting a calculated average of 20,000 people each year. Each elevator carries 5 people on average per trip, and contributes to the 18 billion elevator passenger trips each year.
According to The U.S. Labor Department’s Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 50 percent of elevator deaths involve elevator maintenance employees, or people like Hart who use elevators at work.
Elevator accidents are usually the result of people either falling in the elevator shaft or getting caught between the elevator and the shaft wall.
Critics have questioned whether elevators have an expiration date, suggesting older elevators could be less safe.
It is believed the building where Hart worked and ultimately died was at least 85-years-old. Sources say workers within the building are often fearful of the noises the elevators make, described as "creaky and scary" by the New York Post.
The consumer report notes underlying causes of elevator failure include faulty wiring, pulley systems, door operation and improper maintenance procedures.
Although New York City is among many cities that are believed to be up to date with their codes for the operation of elevators, critics argue that building managers do not see the need to modernize or repair elevators, and therefore, they are not up to date.
In 2008, Don Gelestino, the president of highly renowned elevator service company Ver-Tech, explained the growing problem to ABC News.
"In general, fixing elevators in not a high priority for most building managers...You see buildings where they're spending money to renovate the lobby, putting new bricks and adding a new garden out front and meanwhile the elevators are stopping off-level," he said.
"You don't see a big rush to fix things unless there's an accident," he added.
It is unclear whether the building where Ms. Hart died has begun repairing its elevators.
