Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025
105,991Records 71,450Employers 85,836Hospitalizations 27,959Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-11-30

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #707802

OTIS ELEVATOR CO.

Event
SHEAR, HOISTING MECHANISM, WIRE ROPE, BROKEN CABLE, CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, FALL, HAND, CONTUSION, ELEVATOR SHAFT
NAICS
000000
Inspection type
Planned
Activity number
#18868190
Employer profile
OTIS ELEVATOR CO.
Summary number
707802
Report ID
352420

Event description

Two employees injured when elevator guide rails fall

Investigation abstract

Employees #1 and #2 and a coworker were attempting to relocate elevator guide ra s of the chain hoists. Employee #1 would let off on one hoist and pull up on the other to move the rails laterally. The 3/8 in. wire rope sheared, allowing the rails to fall. Employee #1 suffered internal bruises and Employee #2 suffered a hand injury. Both employees were treated at Mercy Hospital and released. ils. Employee #1 was operating two 6 ton coffin chain hoists at the 18 1/2 floor level. The coworker stood on boards midway on the elevator shaft while Employee #2 was at the bottom of the shaft. They were communicating by radio as they att empted to move a stack of 14 guide rails, approximately 16 ft long and suspended a distance of 4 ft, that were to be bolted in at the bottom of the elevator sha ft. The rigging at the top resembled an upside down pyramid. A 3/8 in. wire rope , threaded through two holes in a 5/8 in. thick fish plate, supported the guide rails. The 3/8 in. wire rope, which was doubled and clamped, rested on both hook

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 28 M

    Nature of injury
    3
    Part of body
    5
    Event type
    1
    Source
    24
    Occupation code
    543
    Human factor
    6
    Environmental factor
    5
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 25 M

    Nature of injury
    7
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    1
    Source
    24
    Occupation code
    543
    Human factor
    6
    Environmental factor
    5
    Task assigned
    1

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.