Science Guy
Junior Member
I am amazed at the amount of accidents that the elevator companies are experiencing right now. In the past, the big companies, Otis, Schindler and Theissen (listed in the order of size in the world) had decent maintenance in keeping these machines running in a safe fashion. With the economy being what it is, many of these companies are making cut backs, thus, reducing maintenance on the equipment. In Ohio, there recently was a failure in 2010 that resulted in 10 people being hurt due to a maintenance failure. Schindler has had people that have been killed in Japan due to its equipment and or its controller failing, combined with poor maintenance. They (the elevator company) say that their equipment does not fail nor can your fall when in their cabs. Ya right...The elevator motor can over speed, the counter weights can hit the cab when going by the car and a whole array of things can cause serious injury or death when ridding these man made cages of transport. Do a search on elevator falls or accidents and see for yourself. It is not the fall that gets you, it it the sudden stop. In fact, a stop that is instant, such as one caused by the emergency brake stops, or over speeding elevator motor, could result in the same amount of force traveling just one floor, as getting hit by a car going 55 mph! Physical force is a hard thing to measure, as a sudden stop, as in what elevators have been known to do, result in major injuries....
