Elevator Incidents

Getting injured at work is usually a result of performing some sort of duty associated with the job, whether it’s a lifting incident or a result of malfunctioning equipment. However, sometimes an injury can occur in the workplace simply getting to the floor where you work!

Elevators save time and energy for employees, especially those who work in buildings more than a few stories tall. They are also invaluable for maintenance workers and delivery workers who must traverse up and down to multiple floors within tall buildings in cities all day, every day.

However elevators can be extremely dangerous, especially if negligent operators, inspectors or property owners do not ensure that they are functioning 100 percent as safely as possible. Elevator incidents injure tens of thousands of Americans every year, and do cause deaths each year as well.

Proper inspection and maintenance of elevators is essential to ensuring the safety of those who ride them, and if you are injured in a malfunctioning elevator it is almost guaranteed that somebody else is at fault for such an incident – whether it is a safety certification team who took a shortcut or a property manager who forego a required inspection time or an elevator manufacturer/installer who made some sort of oversight that led to a faulty elevator.

Elevators pose several potential risks to their riders outside of the Hollywood-traditional risk of plummeting hundreds of feet to your ultimate demise. Sometimes there are glitches which result in the doors opening before the platform arrives. Sometimes the doors open in between floors and sometimes the doors close before they should, trapping terrified people and potentially leading to serious injuries or worse.

However, a much less dramatic example of a common elevator type injury is a non-alignment incident, where the elevator platform stops just short or just too far of where it is intended to stop, creating an unexpected step up or a step down from the platform onto the floor outside the elevator. Especially in today’s phone-addicted world, it would be incredibly easy for someone, with their nose to their phone, to not see this unexpected step up or step down and trip and fall, which could result in a nasty injury.

Similarly, slip and fall injuries may be common in elevators because they have more people riding in them, possibly with wet shoes from being outside in rainy weather. If maintenance crews are not on top of continuously mopping the elevator floor, a slip and fall is possibly and likely, given the number of people who ride an elevator each day.

In an elevator-related injury, ascertaining who is to blame – and therefore, who is liable for the damages – may be a difficult step that only a trained legal professional can get to the bottom of.

In some cases, working on an elevator and being injured may fall under a normal workers’ compensation issue, such as a construction worker who must utilize an improvised elevator to get from one floor to the next to do initial work to the building. In other cases, an elevator manufacturer, repairer or property manager may be at fault, and may require a negligence hearing to properly assess fault and award damages.

In any case, it is in the best interest of the injured individual to consult with a personal injury lawyer to figure out the best avenue to take in order to ensure the best chance at being compensated for their pain and suffering, and missed revenue from being unable to work for an extended period of time.

The attorneys at Altman & Altman LLP have over 40 years of experience guiding those who are injured through the process of claiming workers’ compensation benefits and advocating on their behalf in court when necessary. If there is negligence involved in the incident that caused your injury, we will stop at nothing to ensure that the guilty party is brought to justice and that you receive the compensation you are entitled to.

Elevators are a necessary part of the modern working world, and their benefits far outweigh their dangers. However being hurt as a result of using one creates undue suffering and complications like any other workplace injury, and therefore compensation for these injuries is a must in order to continue living your life and being able to afford your bills.

Call us today for a free consultation at 617.492.3000 or toll-free at 800.481.6199. We are available 24/7.