Otis Elevator Company: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Nov 6, 2014 (fatal): Employee contacts energized switches on elevator and is kill

At 9:00 p.m. on November 6, 2014, an employee was adjusting the elevator door speed and open times while the elevator control switches were set to the run and on modes versus the inspection mode. The employee entered the elevator shaft to work on the GAL model MODL elevator door operator while on the elevator car top and removed the cover to the door operator. The employee was electrocuted when they contacted an energized 300 VDC 2 amp GAL door. The employee was found with their head resting on the electrical contacts. The employee also sustained additional injuries when his arms and legs were trapped between the moving elevator car and the shaft.

Incident on Nov 9, 2012: Employee's fingers are amputated when caught in flange

On November 9, 2012, Employee #1 was working for Otis Elevator Company as a serv ice mechanic. Employee #1 was servicing an elevator machine inside a roof enclos ure. The roof enclosure had other elevator machines present. The employee was se rvicing elevator (machine #2) which was locked-out/tagged-out. Employee #1 heard an abnormal sound coming from an adjacent elevator (machine #1) approximately 3 ft away. Employee #1 could see that the brake core was protruding approximately 3 to 4 in. Normally, the brake core would extend out of the housing approximate ly eight in. The front brake switch rod had fallen from its normal operating pos ition. The employee went to see if he could reinsert the brake core back into th e housing and to return the brake switch rod back into position. Employee #1 gra bbed the pivot arm of the brake switch rod with his right hand, and returned the brake switch arm back into position. The employee then held the flange of the b rake core with his left hand. With both hands, he tried to wiggle the brake core back into the housing. At approximately 10:45, elevator machine #1 picked up a call and the brake core was pulled into the housing with Employee #1's fingers s till holding onto the flange of the brake core. The moving elevator flange caugh t the tips of three fingers of his left hand. Employee #1 called a coworker to t ake him to the hospital. The employee was taken to St Francis Hospital, where su rgery was performed amputating his index, middle and ring fingers. Employee #1 w as treated and released after twenty-four hours.

Incident on Aug 16, 2010: Forklift crushes construction worker's foot when load shifts

At approximately 11:00 a.m. on Monday, August 16, 2010, Employee #1 was working as an elevator apprentice at a construction site in La Jolla, CA. The worksite i s at a university, where three multi-story dormitory apartments are under constr uction. The employee's job that day included helping another employee unload a t ruckload of equipment and materials and place them in a storage area near the ge neral contractor's trailer. A coworker was operating a Sunbelt forklift truck. A t the time of the accident, Employee #1 and his coworker had picked up a load th at consisted of two boxes, each strapped to a small wooden 30-inch by 30-inch pa llet. The boxes were stacked one on top of the other so that the load was about 60 inches high. The coworker drove the forklift from the parking lot, where a tr uck was being unloaded, through a gate, and then, turning, up a low dirt road wi th Employee #1 walking along the left-hand side of the forklift. When they turne d up the dirt road, the load shifted. As Employee #1 stepped in to try to steady the load, the left front wheel of the forklift rolled over his left foot and an kle. Employee #1 was transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, where he underwent surgery and was hospitalized for more than two days.

Incident on Jun 9, 2009: Employee fractures leg in fall when platform collapses

At approximately 4:45 p.m. on June 9, 2009, an employee, an apprentice was walki ng on the extended platform inside the Stair Number 5 located between 14th and 1 5th floor. The built-up scaffold platform collapsed and caused the employee to f all down with it. As a result of the incident, the employee sustained fracture o f right fibia and tibia from a fall of approximately 134-in. The employee was ho spitalized and treated for fractured leg.

Incident on Feb 27, 2006: Employee injured in fall down elevator shaft

At approximately 3:00 p.m. on February 27, 2006, Employee #1, a fourth-stage app rentice working for an elevator contractor, was tagging the buffers of the tract ion elevators in a builidng in San Francisco, CA. After finishing about six elev ators, he went back up onto the lobby landing and tried to lower a car using the hoistway access switch. The car would not move. Employee #1 went partway back i nto the pit to check the pit switch, which was mounted on the side wall near the landing. On removing the cover of the switch, he could not see the problem; he then proceeded into the pit to look at the other switches. After checking, he fo und that none of the switches were tripped. Employee #1 began to climb back up t oward the lobby landing using the fixed ladder mounted on the wall of the pit wh en his foot slipped off one of the rungs. He fell backward, striking the guard o ver the pit light on his way down. He dropped approximately 14 ft, landing on a beam at the bottom of the pit. Employee #1's screams were heard by a woman in th e lobby, and she contacted Emergency Services. The Fire Department responded, re scued him from the pit, and transported him to San Francisco General Hospital. E mployee #1 had injured two vertebrae--one had burst and one was compressed--for which he underwent surgery. He was hospitalized for over one week. Employee #1's foreman was not in the builidng at the time of the accident.

Incident on Aug 24, 2004: Mechanic fractures hand while repairing elevator

On August 24, 2004, an elevator repair mechanic was working for Otis Elevator. H is job duties were to inspect, repair, and to replace elevators. The employee wa s inspecting an elevator's governors in the mechanical room. The employee was wo rking with a helper who assisted him. The employee then removed the vise grip, w hich held the car governor rope to the governor housing, so he could reinstall t he car governor sheave. The rope pulled his right arm and pinned it between the bottom of the cable and the housing of the governor. The weight of the rope and the load of the tension sheave broke his right hand. The governor's cable was no t positively locked out. Because of the accident, the employee sustained a fract ured right hand and was hospitalized.

Incident on Jul 21, 1999: Employee injured between elevator platform and top of shaft

At approximately 1:00 p.m. on July 21, 1999, Employee #1, of the Otis Elevator C ompany, and a coworker were in a false car at the top of an elevator shaft, stri nging six hoist cables between the counterweights, elevator car, and over the ho ist motor pulley. When they had finished, they released the slings holding the c ounterweight at the top of the shaft, tensioning the hoist cables. The counterwe ights did not stop when the cables were tensioned but continued down the elevato r shaft, gaining speed. As the counterweights moved down, the elevator car, whic h was only a framework, was going up the shaft. The top of the elevator car went through the bottom of the false car from which the employees were working. The coworker jumped off the platform onto the adjacent floor, but Employee #1 became caught on the platform and was pinned against the ceiling of the shaft. It took the local fire department over an hour to extract him. Employee #1 was then tak en to the UC Davis Medical Center, where he was hospitalized with a fractured le g. The counterweight was found to be heavier then the elevator car frame, and it did not have a safety choker to prevent a runaway. The braking system on the ho ist motor was not properly adjusted upon installation of the brake shoes, which were not in contact with the brake drum.

Incident on Mar 26, 1991: Burn - electrical fault in panelboard

A SENIOR SERVICE ELEVATOR MECHANIC WITH OVER 40 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS AN ELECTR ICIAN RESPONDED TO A SERVICE CALL INVOLVING FOUR ELEVATORS IN A HIGH-RISE BUILDI NG. THE EMPLOYEE WAS REMOVING THREE 2000-AMPERE CARTRIDGE FUSES FROM A 480/277-V OLT ALUMINUM BUS DUCT. HE HAD REMOVED TWO OF THE FUSES AND HAD TESTED EACH ONE F OR CONTINUITY. AS HE WAS REMOVING THE LAST FUSE FROM THE DISTRIBUTION PANELBOARD , A CROSS-PHASE ELECTRICAL FAULT OCCURRED. THE EMPLOYEE SUSTAINED BURNS OVER 90 PERCENT OF HIS BODY AS A RESULT OF THE ENSUING ELECTRIC ARC. THE EMPLOYEE DIED O F HIS INJURIES THE NEXT DAY.