Man Loses Arm in Lower Manhattan Elevator Accident

 A technician lost his arm in an elevator accident as he was repairing a lift in lower Manhattan. According to a New York Post report, witnesses heard the man’s screams for help following the accident. The technician, a Brooklyn resident, was working at 50 Broadway, a 37-story office building in the heart of the Financial District, when the accident occurred. Passersby said they heard a loud crash and the worker screaming. Fire officials said the man was working for a private company called Centennial Elevator Industries.

Firefighters rushed in buckets of ice to preserve the worker’s arm, which was severed at the elbow by the elevator. The man also suffered an unspecified injury to his leg and was rushed to a local hospital in serious condition. Based on the news article, the worker’s injuries are not life threatening. Residents said the elevator the man was working on had only been installed about a month ago.
Elevator Accident Statistics
According to ConsumerWatch.com, there are an estimated 900,000 elevators in the U.S., each serving an average of 20,000 people per year. Collectively U.S. elevators make 18 million passenger trips each year. The vast majority of these elevators are located in commercial, retail or residential properties. About 27 people are killed in elevator accidents each year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). About 10,200 people are injured in elevator accidents each year.
A majority of these accidents involve elevator door malfunction and carriage misalignment with floors. The U.S. Labor Department reports that half of the annual elevator-related fatalities involve repair or maintenance workers who service elevators or people who use elevators as part of their employment such as in an office building. Of those half of the fatalities result from falls into the elevator shaft. Among worker deaths, 53 percent occur during installation or repair, 17 percent occur during work in the shaft or car and 30 percent during performance of work adjacent to the elevator.
Dangerous Elevator Malfunctions
Here are some of the common elevator malfunctions that may result in serious injury or fatal incidents:
• Malfunction involving the pulley system or a mechanical malfunction or defect causing an elevator to drop rapidly within the shaft.
• Open shaft or risk of fall due to faulty doors or other failures.
• Defective wiring that may cause the elevator to go out of control or pose the risk of electrocution.
• Unbalanced leveling and the failure of the elevator to line up with the floor.
• Wiring malfunction or entrapment due to the heat from fire or water from emergency sprinklers or hoses.
• Door malfunction.
Injuries and Damages
In this particular case, the worker suffered a catastrophic injury – amputation. A catastrophic injury refers to when a victim suffers a permanent injury that may leave the person disabled for the rest of his or her life. For the worker in this incident, the amputation of his arm can certainly prove to be a lifelong disability. It would most likely prevent the worker from returning to his job as an elevator technician. People who lose their livelihoods tend to suffer significant financial damages particularly if they happen to be their family’s sole wage earner or breadwinner.
If you have suffered injuries on the job, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. In addition, you may be eligible to file a third-party claim for significant money damages against a party other than your employer and have two cases for recovering compensation. Examples of third parties include, but are not limited to, general contractors, sub-contractors, building owners, building managers, etc. Injured victims in such cases can seek compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost income and benefits, hospitalization, surgery, prosthetics, permanent injury, disability, past and future pain and suffering, etc.
If You Have Been Injured
If you or a loved one has been injured in an elevator accident or if you have lost a loved one in an elevator accident, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. Our law firm recovered $3,000,000 for a man who fell and suffered two broken legs when he walked into an open elevator shaft.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Source: http://nypost.com/2016/05/26/elevator-technicians-arm-severed-in-office-building