Going up or down? Either way, you could face some degree of danger, if you’re on an elevator. Many of us get the chills thinking about being caught in a closed, broken, elevator, waiting for help. But even when the elevator seemingly works, there are still things that can go very wrong, and cause injury to people.
Dangerous Floors
One danger inside an elevator is the same danger that’s outside of the elevator: The floors. But unlike the general flooring outside the elevator, inside the elevator, there is a lot of foot traffic, in a very small square foot area. That means the chance for dirt, grime, moisture, or other obstacles, is even greater.
Worse, unlike the general floor area, many companies or premises don’t inspect the floor of the elevator as often as they do for the regular floor for an obvious reason: the elevator is always on the move, and rarely stationary enough for a cleaning crew to come in and clean.
Jerking Movements
When you are on an elevator, you probably notice that most of the time, it travels at a smooth, consistent pace up or down. But that isn’t always the case. Sometimes, a broken elevator will suddenly go up or down faster than it has been traveling.
This can cause serious injury because as an elevator is moving at its normal pace, your body is bracing for the upward or downward movement. But when there is a sudden jerking movement up or down, your body is unprepared, which can lead to injuries to the knees and back.
Closing Doors
Although most elevator doors are programmed to open when they feel resistance, if a small child or an elderly person gets a smaller limb trapped in the door, the resistance may not be enough to trigger the door’s opening mechanism. And while most doors have a cushion on the edges, the pushing force of closing doors on a fragile or smaller limb, can also cause serious injury.
Uneven Floors
Elevators sometimes also do not stop flush with the outside floor. This can create an unexpected ledge or small “step,” that people, expecting the floor to be even with the elevator floor, may not even expect to be there.
Elevator Injuries Do Happen
Are we all just being paranoid? Not exactly. Although the fatality rate is relatively low—just under about 30 deaths every year—the injury rate from elevators is alarmingly high—somewhere in the range of about 10,000 injuries every year that happen on, or are caused by, elevators.
About 15% of those injuries result from mechanical failures, with 44% of injuries coming from being trapped in or by the elevator doors.
While falls into open elevator shafts are the stuff of nightmares, those types of injuries are more likely to happen to elevator workers–not visitors using the elevator.
As people get older, they are more prone to being injured in an accident; statistics show that from age 45 up, the likelihood of elevator injuries increases.
