California Injury Blog
Frank Barrile, 31, was killed in a Beverly Hills industrial accident involving an elevator at an apartment building the night of November 6, 2014.
According to a CBS Los Angeles news report, the incident was reported in the 400 block of South Rexford Drive near Olympic Boulevard.
Barrile was found in the elevator shaft on the ground floor of the three-story apartment building.
He was
pronounced dead at the scene. Barrile was identified as an elevator technician employed by Amtech Elevator Services.
Elevator Accident Statistics
According to data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), incidents involving elevators and escalators kill about 30 people each year and injured about 17,000 in the United States. Elevators cause almost 90 percent of deaths and 60 percent of serious injuries.
Also, the numbers show that injuries to people working on or near elevators, including those installing, repairing and maintaining elevators and working in or near elevator shafts, account for 14 or almost half of the annual deaths.
Half of the deaths of workers working in or near elevator shafts were due to falls into the shaft. Incidents involved workers getting caught in or between moving parts of elevators or escalators.
Causes and Compensation Issues
In such cases, it is important to determine what caused the on-the-job accident.
Was the equipment defective? Was it caused by negligence on someone else’s part? Was there a safety violation involved? Was the employee equipped with the necessary safety devices? Did the safety device malfunction?
These are just some of the questions that must be answered in order to determine what precisely caused the incident.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommends that companies prevent elevator accidents by ensuring that workplace protective practices and training are adequate.
Specifically, workers must be trained to de-energize and lock out electrical circuits and mechanical equipment when elevators are being repaired. Workers should have adequate fall protection during work in or near elevator shafts. Employers should also have a proper inspection and maintenance program.
Injured workers or families of deceased workers in such cases can seek workers’ compensation benefits. However, California workers’ compensation benefits can be extremely inadequate in cases where a primary wage earner has been catastrophically injured or killed.
An experienced Los Angeles job injury lawyer will be able to analyze all aspects of the incident and determine whether there is a potential third-party claim.
Such claims are filed against parties other than the employer against entities such as contractors, sub-contractors, building owners or manufacturers of defective products.
The best personal injury law firms will always offer a free consultation and comprehensive case evaluation to injured victims and their families.