OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #997809
HEAD,ASPHYXIATED,BRAKE,COUNTERBALANCE,WORK RULES,NECK,ELEVATOR,ELEVATOR SHAFT
Event description
EMPLOYEE KILLED WHEN NECK CAUGHT IN ELEVATOR SHAFT
Investigation abstract
AT APPROXIMATELY 10 AM ON FEBRUARY 2, 1988, EMPLOYEE #1, THE VICE PRESIDENT OF T THE EDGE OF THE ELEVATOR FLOOR AND THE TOP PORTION OF THE ELEVATOR SHAFT DOOR C ASING. HE WAS ASPHYXIATED DUE TO A COMPRESSED TRACHEA. HE BURNS-KISH FUNERAL HOME, INC., LOCATED IN HAMMOND, INDIANA, WAS TRANSFERRING A CASKET FROM THE MAIN FLOOR OF THE MORTUARY TO THE BASEMENT. HEA WAS WORKING AL ONE. HE REMOVED THE CASKET FROM THE HAND POWERED FREIGHT ELEVATOR, LOCATED AT TH E WEST END OF THE BUILDING. THE EMPLOYEE PROBABLY PULLED ON THE ROPE CONTROLLING THE MECHANICAL BRAKE BUT DID NOT APPLY SUFFICIENT FORCE TO SET THE BRAKE. AFTER THE CASKET WAS REMOVED, THE EMPLOYEE NOTICED THE ELEVATOR INCHING UPWARD, PROBA BLY DUE TO MOVEMENT OF THE COUNTERWEIGHT. THE EMPLOYEE ATTEMPTED TO STOP THE ELE VATOR BY REACHING FOR THE BRAKE ROPE. HIS NECK AND HEAD AREA WERE PINNED BETWEEN
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 58 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 20
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 24
- Occupation code
- 18
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 8
- Hazardous substance
- 8880
- 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.