Bizarre accident: Worker crushed by falling elevator
May 15, 2009 by Fred HosierPosted in: Bizarre Accident of the Week, Fatality, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, OSHA news, contractor safety
OSHA is investigating the death of a worker in West Palm Beach, FL, who was crushed to death by an elevator.
Jason Moyer, 39, was repairing an elevator in the Century Village retirement community at the time of the incident, according to the Palm Beach Post.
The elevator fell on Moyer while he was in the shaft. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Moyer was employed by Xpert Elevator Services. OSHA records show no previous action or investigations of the company.
The elevator in the retirement community failed a private inspection in February 2008. During a follow-up, the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation cited the owner of the elevator for not having a current license and told the owners they must show proof of a current inspection.
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Tags: crushed by falling elevator, death of worker, OSHA investigating
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May 18th, 2009 at 11:28 am
RIP….
May 18th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
This is a terrible accident, but it’s not “bizarre”. Somehow the elevator was not secured well enough when the elevator repairman stepped into the shaft under the elevator to work on it.
June 1st, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Elevators should not fall like this. They have brakes that are supposed to automatically kick in if they start to fall. The elevator failed an inspection in 2008 and the owner was cited for not having a current license. I wonder if the repair person knew about this?
May 24th, 2010 at 6:42 am
The word bizarre implies that the incident is very unusual or unanticipated. The content of the article does not support this conclusion. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has requirements that are used to prevent unanticipated machinery motion when a person is servicing equipment. The reasons that these standards were not followed may not be bizarre as well. I think that it is inappropriate to imply that this worker’s tragic death was bizarre. It is my experience that individuals who may have been able to change a procedure or a work practice that lead to an incident may wish to characterize a tragic outcome as unusual, one in a million, or bizarre. The article’s author and publisher should not put forward this interpretation of the events leading to the incident unless that conclusion has been thoroughly investigated.