When you need to cover more ground more quickly, you can use an elevator or escalator to get to a higher floor. These both are nerve-wracking to use for most people, though. Since elevators and escalators are mechanically powered to get you to higher floors more quickly, unlike stairs, they can be scary to use. For the most part, they are safe to use because they need to be inspected regularly.
Sometimes negligence is involved and leads to an injury or death on an elevator or escalator. When that happens, you could use the help of a Columbia, SC elevator and escalator accident lawyer from Solomon Law Group, LLC. We’ll fully investigate the circumstances surrounding your injuries and determine who should be held responsible for the damages you suffered.
South Carolina Elevator and Escalator Regulations
In order to keep them as safe as possible, South Carolina has elevator and escalator safety regulations. According to Chapter 16 of our state’s Labor and Employment laws, all elevators and escalators must be inspected and tested before they are open for use. They must also be inspected annually in order to ensure that they are still safe and up to code.
Before a new elevator can be installed, there needs to be a permit and plans drawn up that match the specifications that are allowed. Once the plans are approved, a permit can be issued, and the elevator can be installed. Before it can run, though, it will need to be inspected. Once it’s inspected, the elevator will get an opening certificate for its intended use, how much weight it can hold, and the speed of its system.
If an elevator or escalator is not inspected regularly, they could malfunction or be in bad shape and cause an injury—or worse. When you’ve been involved in an accident with this machinery, you could use the help of an elevator and escalator accident lawyer. We’ll help you prove the negligent party was at fault for your injuries and hold them accountable.
What Causes Elevator and Escalator Accidents?
Although accidents on elevators and escalators aren’t entirely too common, they can still happen and cause serious injuries. By look at what causes these accidents, we can better prepare ourselves for how to avoid getting into a bad situation on an elevator or escalator. Here are the different ways that you can get injured on one of these pieces of useful machinery:
- Entrapment of clothing, like a shoelace, or a body part
- Failure to receive regular maintenance or inspections
- Falling off or down the steps of an escalator
- Falling off the side or down the rail of an escalator
- Elevator is misaligned with the floor
- Elevator pulley system malfunctions
- Wiring in the system is bad
- Design defect for either the elevator or the escalator
Some of these causes are out of the hands of a visitor—when a property owner fails to ensure their elevator or escalator is safe, they could be liable for your injuries. With the help of a Columbia, SC elevator and escalator accident attorney from our firm, you can feel supported through your claim and rest assured that the negligent party will be held accountable for their actions.
Common Elevator and Escalator Accident Injuries
Even though accidents on these apparatuses don’t happen too often, the injuries they can cause are serious, and can even be deadly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 17,000 serious injuries happen every year because of elevators and escalators and about 30 people die. The report also mentions that 90 percent of these injuries and fatalities are caused by elevators and their malfunctioning.
Not only can people get injured while riding in an elevator, but maintenance and other workers can become injured or killed when working in elevator shafts or near them. Workers take great measures to be safe on the job, but accidents can still happen when heavy machinery is involved.
Even though elevators and escalators have been around for a long time—they could even be dated back to Greek civilizations. The reason they can be so dangerous is that the design hasn’t changed much over the years, which leaves a lot of room for error and accidents. Some of the injuries that you can suffer from these accidents are:
- Bruises
- Broken bones
- Cuts and lacerations
- Burns
- Soft tissue injuries
- Neck and back injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Amputation
- Paralysis
- Death
Suffering from minor injuries from an accident with heavy machinery can be frustrating. Both minor and serious injuries from these accidents have the potential to change your life and leave you with many bills that you wouldn’t have had otherwise. A Columbia, SC elevator and escalator accident lawyer can help you calculate how much you’re owed for medical bills, missed work, and other costs that you’ve incurred from the injuries that weren’t your fault.
Depending on how serious your injuries were, you could even recover future lost wages and the cost of future medical treatment. With us on your side, you can feel confident that your legal claim is fully supported by our experienced legal team.
Contact Solomon Law Group, LLC
Elevators and escalators are intended to help you safely get from one place to another. When someone else has been negligent and this results in your injury on one of these machines, you should have to pay for the costs associated with your injuries and damages. That’s where we come in.
A Columbia, SC elevator and escalator accident lawyer from Solomon Law Group can help you hold the negligent party accountable for their actions, whether they are the property owner who failed to meet inspection requirements or the manufacturer of the elevator or escalator. We will fully investigate what happened to cause your injury so that you can get the full and fair compensation you deserve. Reach out to us today so we can start helping you right away.
