Elevator Constructors and Mechanics

DURING this seven-year period (11/90-10/97), 24 construction workers identified themselves as elevator constructors or mechanics when registering at the George Washington University Emergency Department. Elevator mechanics (who also work on escalators) make up the smallest trade-based group of injured workers during this study period. Although the numbers are too small to identify prevailing hazards, the injuries are worth discussing.

Demographic Characteristics: All but two workers were male, and 20 of 24 were white, and the average age of this group was 37.

Causes of Injury, Diagnoses, and Injury Locations (charts 17-A through 17-C): Chart 17A combines information on causes of injury, diagnoses, and injured body parts that occurred (1) most often or (2) much more often among elevator constructors and mechanics compared with all other construction trades.

Given the very heavy mechanical equipment that these workers handle, hazards exist for finger or hand crushes. Of the four finger or hand crushes, one was from an elevator door, another from the elevator itself, a third from a metal plate, and another by an unspecified heavy object. Other parts of the body are also at risk from mechanical equipment; one worker sprained his arm and seriously bruised his trunk when he was struck by a crane chain from a collapsed escalator.

Among head and face injuries, one worker was struck on his hard hat and then his chin by an unknown object while working in an elevator shaft, causing a laceration through his lip and jaw. Another worker was hit in the face by a heavy chain, a third was struck in the head by a piece of wood with a nail in it, and a fourth struck his head against a protruding pipe and was sent to the Emergency Department one month later with severe headache and nausea. A fifth worker suffered a bruised head and felt disoriented after a fall. Fortunately, none of the elevator constructors seen at the Emergency Department was seriously enough injured to require hospital admission.

Recommendations: Mechanical construction and repair work on elevators and escalators involves working with very heavy metal objects such as doors, escalator plates, drive chains, and counterweights. Improved material handling procedures would help to prevent such injuries, as well as reduce strains and sprains from overexertion. As in any mechanical task, care must be taken when working on moving parts. Glove use could also help to protect the hands and fingers from lacerations and material handling injuries.

Chart 17-A
Chart 17-B
24 injured elevator constructors
Detailed causes of injury

Chart 17-C

24 injured elevator constructors treated for 27 diagnoses
Diagnoses by body part

For example:
* Percentage of elevator constructors with one or more lacerations. Percents add to more than 100 because some injured workers had more than one diagnosis.
** Number of elevator constructors with one or more lacerations.

Guide to Reading The Bar Charts

• All of the charts are based on the medical records of 2,916 construction tradespeople who were treated for work-related injuries at the George Washington University Emergency Department between November 1,1990 and October 31,1997 . Construction tradespeople working in maintenance settings are included.
The charts do not predict or explain injury risk because, even though we know how many workers were treated for on-the-job injuries at this hospital, we do not know how many workers were treated at other hospitals, or were injured and not treated at all, or were working but not injured during this time.

In most cases, bars are included on a chart only if they represent at least three workers.

If a bar is labeled “other, ”it represents workers who did not fit into a category or whose category had fewer than three people.

The study recorded up to two injury diagnoses (such as a bruised elbow and a strained shoulder) for each worker, so the number of diagnoses is often larger than the number of injured workers. Keep this in mind especially when interpreting the “Diagnoses by Body Part” charts.

In some cases, the diagnosis appears to be similar to the cause of injury , but keep in mind that they can be quite different; for example, “electric shock” is a diagnosis, but “electrical exposure” is a cause of injury that might cause electric shock, but might also cause a fractured shoulder from losing balance and falling off a ladder. Causes of injuries included are struck by/against, sharp object, falls, over-exertion, object in eye, machinery-related, caught between, toxic exposure, electrical exposure, vehicle related, contact with hot liquid/object, fire/flame/explosion, assault, and other/not-specified. Diagnoses included are lacerations, strains/sprain/pain, contusions/abrasions, fractures, eye injuries, head injuries, crush injuries, dislocations, toxic effects, wound infections, head injuries, electric shock, burns, and internal injuries.

When several trades are listed on a chart , the gray bars show specific trades and the black bar shows the average of all of the trades combined.

When specific injuries or causes of injury are shown in charts 1-M through 1-S, only the trades with “above average" proportions of an injury or cause of injury are included.

For charts that describe injuries or causes of injury for one trade, the bars are often presented in pairs the black bars represent the trade of interest (such as, insulators) and the gray bars represent the comparison group (everybody but insulators, for example). Likewise, if the black bars represent roofers, the gray bars represent everybody but roofers.

For trades that are represented by fewer than 70 injured workers (fewer than 10 each year, on average), selected causes, diagnoses, and injured body parts are combined on one bar chart instead of three (chart A). The accompanying lists of injury causes (chart B) and diagnoses (chart C) are comprehensive.