{"id":4389,"date":"2011-12-16T02:42:34","date_gmt":"2011-12-16T07:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/?p=4389"},"modified":"2014-10-24T23:08:23","modified_gmt":"2014-10-25T04:08:23","slug":"elevator-accidents-a-death-an-injury-and-a-criminal-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/?p=4389","title":{"rendered":"Elevator Accident Tragedies: A Death, An Injury, Criminal Charges, Consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">  <strong>Two gruesome elevator tragedies are reported in the news articles shown below.  They are disturbing and give pause to team readiness activities.  Here is a summary of the facts:<\/p>\n<hr width=\"400\" size=\"4\" align=\"center\" color=#FFCC00;\">\n<font size=\"3\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">A Death<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<ul><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><\/p>\n<li>December 14, 2011: as a woman is stepping into an elevator, it suddenly shoots upward.<\/li>\n<li>The woman is killed &#8212; dragged and pinned between the outside of the elevator car and the wall of the elevator shaft.<\/li>\n<li>It takes an hour to rescue two other passengers who are trapped in the elevator with her dead body.<\/li>\n<li>The building was evacuated and closed; employees were told to work from home for the next two days.<\/li>\n<li>Records show 14 open violations involving the building\u2019s elevators.<\/li>\n<li>An investigation is underway.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"3\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">An Injury<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<ul><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><\/p>\n<li>Christmas Day 2010: a woman takes a single step into an elevator and it instantly shoots skyward, dragging her up eight floors. <\/li>\n<li>Her arm and leg are scraped and crushed against the wall of the elevator shaft.<\/li>\n<li>Seriously injured, she spends 3 months in the hospital and continues undergoing rehabilitation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"3\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Criminal Charges<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<ul><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><\/p>\n<li>An investigation of the Christmas Day 2010 incident finds that an elevator repairman wrongly disabled a safety switch.<\/li>\n<li>The elevator repairman is charged with assault and reckless endangerment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"3\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Consequences<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<ul><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><\/p>\n<li>Untold suffering.<\/li>\n<li>Costly, lengthy lawsuits.<\/li>\n<li>Interruptions to family life and business operations.<\/li>\n<li>Damage to reputations.<\/li>\n<li>Investigations.<\/li>\n<li>Legislatures and Unions demand more regulation: continuing education and licensing for people who operate\/repair elevators.<\/li>\n<li>People responsible may lose their jobs, pay fines, be convicted of crimes, and possibly go to jail.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><BR><\/p>\n<hr width=\"400\" size=\"4\" align=\"center\" color=#FFCC00;\">\n<\/ul>\n<p><CENTER><font size=\"3\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong><em>What can be done to ensure that these types of tragedies never happen in your facility?<\/strong><\/em><\/CENTER><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"background-color:#FFCC00;\"><span style=\"color: #FFCC00;\">TeamReadiness<\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><BR><\/strong><\/p>\n<table border=\"3\" cellpadding=\"6\"  >\n<tr>\n<th><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/AP-Associated-Press-logo.png\" alt=\"AP Associated Press logo\" title=\"AP Associated Press logo\" width=\"300\" height=\"59\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4395\" srcset=\"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/AP-Associated-Press-logo.png 319w, https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/AP-Associated-Press-logo-300x59.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><br \/>\n<span style=\"font:bold 30px Times New Roman;color:#000000\">Repairman Charged in 2010 NYC Elevator Accident<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"font:bold 12px Times New Roman;color:#000000\">By COLLEEN LONG<br \/>\nAssociated Press<br \/>\nDecember 15, 2011<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/font>\n<\/th>\n<th><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/New-York-Times-logo.png\" alt=\"New York Times logo\" title=\"New York Times logo\" width=\"315\" height=\"49\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/New-York-Times-logo.png 391w, https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/New-York-Times-logo-300x46.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 315px) 100vw, 315px\" \/><br \/>\n<\/style>\n<p><span style=\"font:bold 30px Times New Roman;color:#000000\">Elevator Accident Kills Woman in Midtown Building<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"font:bold 12px Times New Roman;color:#000000\">By CARA BUCKLEY and ANDY NEWMAN<br \/>\nThe New York Times<br \/>\nDecember 14, 2011<\/span><\/strong>\n<\/th>\n<th><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/New-York-Times-logo.png\" alt=\"New York Times logo\" title=\"New York Times logo\" width=\"315\" height=\"49\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/New-York-Times-logo.png 391w, https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/New-York-Times-logo-300x46.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 315px) 100vw, 315px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/style>\n<p><span style=\"font:bold 30px Times New Roman;color:#000000\">Elevator Was Serviced Just Before Accident<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"font:bold 12px Times New Roman;color:#000000\">By CARA BUCKLEY<br \/>\nThe New York Times<br \/>\nDecember 15, 2011<\/span><\/strong>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width='33.3%'  valign=\"top\" ><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 A woman visiting a hospital last Christmas Day became trapped by a faulty elevator that started moving while its doors were open and was dragged up several floors, crushing her arm and leg against the wall of the elevator shaft, after <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">a repairman wrongly disabled a safety switch<\/font>, prosecutors said Thursday.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">The prosecutors&#8217; announcement came a day after an advertising executive stepping into an elevator at her office building was dragged and crushed to death, but the two horrific accidents were unrelated.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8220;I guess everybody gets into an elevator. &#8230; Me, I&#8217;m claustrophobic,&#8221; Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said in announcing <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">criminal charges<\/font> against the repairman. &#8220;I&#8217;m always concerned of being trapped between floors, but I never would think of something like this happening.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Deborah Jordan was at SUNY Downstate Medical Center getting into the elevator to visit a patient with her daughter last Christmas <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">when she stepped onto an elevator that suddenly lurched up. Her leg became trapped outside, in the space between the elevator car and she elevator shaft, and scraped against the floors as the lift rose.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Her daughter is seen on surveillance video reacting in horror as she is dragged up. As she moves up the hospital, doctors gasp and turn and run to try to get help. One woman covers her ears because of Jordan&#8217;s screams.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Jordan, 47, went up eight floors, to where <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">a repairman was working and had called up the faulty elevator by wrongly tripping a switch<\/font>, prosecutors said. Normally, elevators don&#8217;t move if a door is open.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Hynes said investigators determined the repairman, who arrived shortly before Jordan was injured, was to blame.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">The repairman, Jason Jordan, who&#8217;s no relation to the injured woman, <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">should have gone floor to floor to make sure no one was inside the faulty elevator before he tripped the switch on it and should have had someone working with him<\/font>, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">The repairman was charged Thursday with assault and reckless endangerment<\/font> and was released without bail. He said outside court it was a terrible accident.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8220;That accident happened after I left (the hospital),&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">The injured woman spent three months in a hospital being treated and is still in a rehabilitation center<\/font>, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">On Wednesday, Manhattan advertising executive <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">Suzanne Hart was stepping onto an elevator at her Madison Avenue office building when it rose abruptly with its doors still open, pulling her along. She was crushed to death between floors.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">It may seem, given the timing of the cases, that such elevator accidents are common, but they&#8217;re not. The Department of Buildings said last year there were <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">53 elevator accidents reported out of more than 60,000 working elevators throughout the city.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Investigators with the buildings department were trying to determine what went wrong. Safety mechanisms are supposed to prevent elevators from moving while their doors are open.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">Hynes urged the passage of a bill, led by state Assemblyman Keith Wright, that would amend labor laws to require continuing education and licensing for people who operate elevators to help avoid accidents like the ones that killed Hart and injured Jordan.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">&#8220;It&#8217;s not a particularly common event,&#8221; Hynes said, &#8220;but that it happens at all, and the juxtaposition between the death of that poor woman just recently and what happened to Miss Jordan, has got to make everyone very, very concerned.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. <\/strong>\n<\/td>\n<td width='33.3%'  valign=\"top\" >\n<ul style=\"margin-left:0px; padding-left:12px; list-style-type:square;\">\n  <P style=\"line-height: 13pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">NEW YORK  \u2014Suzanne Hart, a 41-year-old executive at one of Manhattan\u2019s most prominent advertising firms, was stepping into the elevator of an 85-year-old Midtown office building around 10 a.m. Wednesday, just as she had every workday for the past four years, while fellow workers streamed into the mosaic-tiled lobby. <\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Then, in an inexplicable instant, after <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">Ms. Hart placed one foot inside, the elevator suddenly lurched up, its door still open, according to the Fire Department. It dragged her until she was pinned between the elevator and the wall<\/font>, between the first and second floors, the police said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Two passengers in the elevator car could only watch in horror, and would remain trapped in the elevator for an hour before rescuers could free them.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">Ms. Hart was declared dead at the scene<\/font>, but her body was not removed until nearly 7 p.m.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">There are about 60,000 elevators in New York City, which were involved in 53 accidents last year. But just three of them were fatal<\/font>, making the mechanics and the violence of Ms. Hart\u2019s death all the more unusual.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">The specter of something as mundane as an elevator ride turning deadly haunted the building, at 285 Madison Avenue, and its stricken workers for the rest of the day. The building was evacuated, and employees were told to work from home on Thursday. Friends and family of Ms. Hart reeled in shock, struggling to come to terms with the loss of a woman they uniformly described as generous, driven and warm.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Ms. Hart was a director of new business and content at Y&#038;R, formerly Young &#038; Rubicam, which represents brands like Campbell Soup, Land Rover and Xerox. She had worked there since June 2007, according to her profile on LinkedIn, and quickly developed a reputation for working long hours while maintaining a spirit that knitted people together.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">\u201cSuzanne was just one of the most wonderful people in the world,\u201d said Chad Kawalec, a former director of client services at Y&#038;R.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">\u201cShe was constantly trying to orchestrate teams of people who had never worked together, but she magically got them to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Ms. Hart\u2019s father, Alex Hart, called her \u201cthe most marvelous daughter imaginable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">\u201cNo father could have ever been more proud of her,\u201d he said by phone from his home in Florida, weeping as he spoke.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">As of Wednesday night, investigators had not determined what caused the malfunction of the elevator, one of 13 at 285 Madison, a 28-story building at the corner of 40th Street that was built in 1926. Records from the city\u2019s Department of Buildings show there were <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">14 open violations involving the building\u2019s elevators<\/font>, two of them dating to last year. But a spokesman for the agency said none of those violations were for hazardous conditions.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">\u201cThis particular elevator was last inspected in June 2011, and no safety issues were found at that time, and no conditions were found that would be related to this accident,\u201d the spokesman, Tony Sclafani, said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">As rare as elevator accidents are, Mr. Kawalec said the elevators at 285 Madison Avenue were old and creaky. <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">\u201cThey weren\u2019t the kind of elevators that you stuck your hand in to catch the doors,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause they wouldn\u2019t stop.\u201d<\/font><\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">This month, Y&#038;R announced plans to move to 3 Columbus Circle, near the Time Warner Center, partly because the Madison Avenue building was a warren of small offices and the agency wanted open spaces. Other tenants in the building, including Kang &#038; Lee, Blast Radius, BrandBuzz and Bravo, planned to move, too.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">David Sable, a Y&#038;R executive, said 285 Madison was \u201cnot a suitable building for us and probably hasn\u2019t been for a number of years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Outside the high-pressure world of advertising, Ms. Hart harbored a creative and nurturing side.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Michael Meseke, who lived across the hall from Ms. Hart at her former residence on Carmine Street in the West Village for about five years, said she filled her home with small paintings she was working on and grew lush plants on the fire escape.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Mr. Meseke recalled that when his parents visited from California, Ms. Hart would stay at her boyfriend\u2019s apartment so that his parents could use her place.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Andrea Meyer, who lives on the building\u2019s fourth floor, said she and Ms. Hart frequently joked and commiserated about their mutual desire to shed weight. \u201cShe was always trying to lose 10 pounds, like me, and when she did, she was so excited,\u201d Ms. Meyer said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">A few years ago, Ms. Hart met Chris Dickson, who would become her boyfriend. About a year ago, the couple moved to an apartment in Brooklyn Heights, where friends say Ms. Hart realized one of her dreams \u2014 to have her own garden in the city.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">As dusk fell, reporters gathered outside the four-story Brooklyn building where Ms. Hart and Mr. Dickson lived. Appearing briefly on the stoop out front, Mr. Dickson spoke briefly about Ms. Hart.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">\u201cShe\u2019s a beautiful person, and I don\u2019t have words for this,\u201d he said. \u201cI loved her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Reporting was contributed by Al Baker, Stuart Elliott, Meredith Hoffman, Ray Rivera and Tim Stelloh.\n<\/td>\n<td width='33.3%'  valign=\"top\" >\n<ul style=\"margin-left:0px; padding-left:12px; list-style-type:square;\">\n  <P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">NEW YORK  \u2014<FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">Electrical maintenance work was being performed on an elevator just hours before it malfunctioned<\/font>, killing an advertising executive in Midtown, a spokesman for New York City\u2019s Buildings Department said Thursday. <\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">\u201cThis work has now become the focus of our investigation,\u201d the spokesman, Tony Sclafani, said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Suzanne Hart, 41, was crushed to death on Wednesday morning after <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">the elevator she was stepping into lurched upward, pinning her between the outside of the car and the wall of the elevator shaft.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Mr. Sclafani said the department would be conducting citywide sweeps of elevators maintained by Transel Elevator Inc., the company that serviced the elevators at 285 Madison Avenue, where the accident occurred.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">The company maintains elevators at nearly a dozen prominent buildings in the city, according to Transel\u2019s Web site, including the Graybar Building, the BMW Building and the Hippodrome Building. Additional clients listed on the Web site include Carnegie Hall and the Plaza Hotel.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">The last fatal elevator accident in the city also involved Transel: Robert Melito, 44, a technician for the company, was servicing an elevator on the 10th floor of a building at 230 West 38th Street on Sept. 23 when he fell to his death.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Calls to Robert Pitney, a director at Transel, were not immediately returned on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Mr. Sclafani said the sheer force of the accident\u2019s impact raised structural concerns for 285 Madison Avenue, an 85-year-old building that houses the advertising firm Y&#038;R, where Ms. Hart worked as a director of new business and content. <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">The building, which has 13 elevators in all, was closed on Thursday and was set to be closed on Friday, too.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">A barricade was set up across its front entrance on Thursday, and workers put up temporary walls in front of the elevator banks.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">According to records from the Buildings Department, there are 14 open violations against the building\u2019s elevators, two of which date to last year. Those violations were not available on Thursday, though Mr. Sclafani said none were for hazardous conditions.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">Fatal elevator accidents are exceedingly rare. An estimated 900,000 elevators in the United States make 18 billion passenger trips each year, according to the database ConsumerWatch.com, while an average of 27 people are killed in elevator accidents.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Patrick Carrajat, a former elevator executive and consultant and the founder of an elevator museum in Queens, said the type of accident that killed Ms. Hart was more unusual still. But out of the few similar cases he was aware of, he said, it was <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">usually a result of an oversight. \u201cThese cases almost always are a case of human error,\u201d <\/font>he said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Nonetheless, Ms. Hart\u2019s death unloosed jitters among office workers in nearby buildings, many of whom found themselves second-guessing the elevators that ferried them to work, or taking the stairs when they could. Building managers also sent out mass e-mails to offer assurances that their elevators were safe.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Alexandrea Castellini, 25, a receptionist who works on the 28th floor of the Chrysler Building, said she resolved never again to rush into an elevator because she was late for work. Suzi Brenner, 32, a landscape architect who works on the 39th floor of a building at 40th Street and Madison Avenue, found herself scurrying quickly into the elevator car. \u201cI was thinking, \u2018Just get in and get out; don\u2019t linger in the doorway,\u2019 \u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Shanta Persaud, 31, who works in sales and marketing on the ninth floor of a building at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue, <FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">warned her coworkers and her husband to step in and out of elevators quickly<\/font>, too.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Chadney Spencer, 35, who works in the same building as Ms. Persaud, said the accident made him acutely aware of how easily the daily routines of city life \u2014 crossing the street, riding the subway \u2014 could turn deadly.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">\u201cIt really makes nothing safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Ms. Hart\u2019s death came a day before the announcement that an elevator repairman was indicted in Brooklyn for an accident that resulted in the mutilation of a woman last December.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR:#FFCC00;\">The International Union of Elevator Constructors has been pushing for the passage of a bill, which was introduced in the State Assembly last summer, that would require licensing for people who work on elevators.<\/font> Edward Krull, an international organizer for the union, said only three cities in the state \u2014 Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse \u2014 required an elevator worker to have a license.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">\u201cAnyone with a set of tools can work on an elevator,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><P style=\"line-height: 11pt;\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Nate Schweber contributed reporting.\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p><BR><BR><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><font size=\"3\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Elevator Statistics<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<ul><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><\/p>\n<li>In 2010, New York City had more than 60,000 elevators and 53 elevator accidents (3 were fatal).<\/li>\n<li>Previous NYC elevator death: September 23, 2011, a repairman servicing an elevator on a 10th floor fell to his death.<\/li>\n<li>An estimated 900,000 elevators in the United States make 18 billion passenger trips each year. <\/li>\n<li>An average of 27 people are killed in elevator accidents each year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr width=\"400\" size=\"4\" align=\"center\" color=#FFCC00;\">\n<BR><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/DMW-by-line3.png\" alt=\"DMW by line3\" width=\"200\" height=\"62\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-5602\" srcset=\"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/DMW-by-line3.png 301w, https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/DMW-by-line3-300x92.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><br \/>\n<BR><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><Center><P><a style=\"border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 3px; color:#FFCC00\"><span style=\"font:bold 25px Times New Roman;color:#000066\">How Can TeamReadiness Help You Prevent Accidents?<\/Center><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<table border=\"5\" BORDERCOLOR=\"#FFCC00\">\n<tr>\n<th><P ALIGN = left><br \/>\n<font size=\"2\"><\/p>\n<style type = \"text\/css\">\nul.ticklist { \nlist-style-image: url(https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/red-cross-bullet2.png);\n}\n<\/style>\n<ul class=\"ticklist\">\n<li><P ALIGN = left><span style=\"color: #003366;\">1. We document your safety plans, procedures, policies, and training courses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ticklist\">\n<li><P ALIGN = left><span style=\"color: #003366;\">2. Our documentation is highly visual, easy-to-use and easy-to-understand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ticklist\">\n<li><P ALIGN = left><span style=\"color: #003366;\">3. TRM On Demand&#153; provides easy and secure online access to all your documentation, training, records, and reports.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ticklist\">\n<li><P ALIGN = left><span style=\"color: #003366;\">4. TRM On Demand&#153; enables your team members to easily create reports of incident information and prevention.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ticklist\">\n<li><P ALIGN = left><span style=\"color: #003366;\">5. Easily create online tests and course completion certificates that reinforce learning and build esprit de corps.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ticklist\">\n<li><P ALIGN = left><span style=\"color: #003366;\">6. Easily communicate and collaborate with your team members to optimize plans and learning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ticklist\">\n<li><P ALIGN = left><span style=\"color: #003366;\">7. Gets &#8220;team members involved that promotes \u201cbuy-in.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"ticklist\">\n<li><P ALIGN = left><span style=\"color: #003366;\">8. Breaks learning down into small, quick, easily understood videos or other formats that can be accessed at anytime.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><P ALIGN = left><\/p>\n<p style=\"background-color: #003366\"> <span style=\"color: #FFFFFF\"><strong>Let TeamReadiness help.  We can assist with the entire process to quickly and cost effectively take the steps necessary to prevent accidents and achieve team readiness!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<\/tr>\n<\/th>\n<\/table>\n<p><BR><br \/>\n<font size=\"3\" face=\"Bodoni MT Condensed\" color=\"#003366\"><strong>DMW<\/strong><\/font><br \/>\n<Center><span style=\"color: #660000;\"><strong><font face=\"Arial Bold\">TeamReadiness<sup>&reg;<\/sup><em><u> can help!<\/em><\/u><\/strong><\/font><\/span><br \/>\nCopyright \u00a9 2007-2011 TeamReadiness, Inc.<\/Center><\/p>\n<p><BR><BR><br \/>\n<\/body><br \/>\n<\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two gruesome elevator tragedies are reported in the news articles shown below. They are disturbing and give pause to team readiness activities. Here is a summary of the facts: What can be done to ensure that these types of tragedies never happen in your facility? TeamReadiness Repairman Charged in 2010 NYC Elevator Accident By COLLEEN [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-worthy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4389"}],"version-history":[{"count":91,"href":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5616,"href":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4389\/revisions\/5616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamreadiness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}