New Jersey Elevator Slip and Fall Lawyers
Elevator/Escalator Slip and Fall Accidents
According to the Elevator-Escalator Safety Foundation, there are an estimated 35,000 escalators in use today, and an estimated 700,000 elevators. Elevators and escalators are sophisticated pieces of machinery that were created to help make travel from one elevation to another much easier. However, with convenience also comes increased risk, and in this case risk takes the form of elevator and escalator slip and fall accidents.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimated that there were more than 17,000 injuries caused by elevators and escalators that resulted in hospitalization in 1994 (7,300 attributed to escalators and 9,800 attributed to elevators). According to the CPSC, it is "estimated that 75% of escalator injuries result from falls, 20% from entrapment at the bottom or top of an escalator or between a moving stair and escalator sidewall, and 5%" result from some other reason. The CPSC, along with the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, reports that about 30 people are killed every year in accidents involving elevators and escalators. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a man was decapitated by an elevator in 2000. The doors to the elevator where missing windows, so, when the buttons failed to work, the man placed his head through the window and was killed when the elevator came down upon his head. As for escalator deaths, OSHA also reported that a man asphyxiated when his coat became stuck in the escalator's bottom comb plate and kept him pinned to the ground, lying on his chest, at the bottom of the conveyance. Though we often take for granted the convenience that elevators and escalators provide, we sometimes forget how dangerous elevators or escalators can be in the event of malfunction, faulty design, or simple human negligence.
Inspections of both elevators and escalators should regularly take place to ensure the proper working order of both conveyances. Because they are used over and over repeatedly each day, and because they are made up of various moving parts that can deteriorate over time, both escalators and elevators pose the risk of malfunctioning at any given time. Owners and operators of elevators and escalators have a responsibility to ensure that all the proper safety precautions and safety measures have been taken to make injury cases regarding elevators and escalators as minimal as possible.
Elevators and escalators are a part of our daily lives. Many people ride in elevators once they arrive at work, or even when they are casually out running errands at a shopping mall. Escalators are also used by people over and over again, not only because they are convenient but also because alternate methods of descending or ascending between floors are relatively limited (i.e. though staircases are present in all buildings, their location often makes them inconvenient to use). If an injury occurs, it must be properly determined if the elevator or escalator was in good working order in the first place and was ultimately responsible for causing the injury, more so than human course of action was.
In any event, it is important to have someone on your side that can sort through the details of your slip and fall case, and hold those responsible for the accident accountable for their negligence. Please call the skilled New Jersey premises liability attorneys at Lependorf & Silverstein today for a free consultation, and we will work towards getting you the compensation you deserve for you injury.