105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #707802

SHEAR,HOISTING MECHANISM,WIRE ROPE,BROKEN CABLE,CONSTRUCTION,EQUIPMENT FAILURE,FALL,HAND,CONTUSION,ELEVATOR SHAFT

Event
SHEAR,HOISTING MECHANISM,WIRE ROPE,BROKEN CABLE,CONSTRUCTION,EQUIPMENT FAILURE,FALL,HAND,CONTUSION,ELEVATOR SHAFT
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
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.