we keep getting stuck in the elevators at work and they won't fix them! Firefighters?

[miss missy]

Has this happened to you?

We are on floor 9! We are really tired of them not fixing them. This is a huge CO too! I do not know how old the elevators are but they are old! They keep getting stuck! One doors close before you can even get in. The rattle and shake. The pop up and sometimes just drop and stop at floors no one pressed for. If they just stop between floors and your stuck there. In the summer, we had 3 different people stuck within 1 month! And thats just my shift, who knows about the day shift. The guards are told to call the elevator people, not 911 because the CO has to pay if the firefighters come out! People get stuc kand have to wait for the elevator people Now I work 2nd and 3rd shift and the elevator people are not close by, ya know.

One girl was so scared, not knowing if it would drop to the bottom any minute, I had to keep her calm talking through the doors

So the other day, a coworker got stuck at 2am! Not many people in the building at that point... the phone in there didn't work and cell service doesn't work in there either. The gaurd called the elevator people and they were gonna take an hour... so thankd god he broke the rule and he called the 911, the firefighters came out and had the shut down all of them and had to get her out through the roof of the elevator and put a latter down to get her out and it was between floors! She was in there over an hour and she was shaken and dirty from the dust on the roof and all and she very upset. She called her boss and said I am going home! He said ok thank god.

It made me so MAD! Why won't they put the darn money into fixing them?? The exec's get million dollar bonus' !! I don't think the certificates are posted in them either, I believe it says... "certificate in office", isnt it suppose to be in the elevator?

I think it's time someone calls OSHA. This is ridiculous!

Any firefighters out there that know about this sorta thing? How often do you do a elevator rescue?

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

I think it's time someone calls OSHA. This is ridiculous!

GO for it!

 

[Aidensmom]

You don't live in Tampa do you? The elevators in our building do this a lot.

It is not unusual for people to be late to work because they have been stuck in the elevator. I work on the 8th floor, so taking the stairs all the time really is not a good option. My DH works for the owner of the building, and believe me, he gets an earful whenever anyone I know, ESPECIALLY ME, gets stuck, and he in turn gives an earful to his employer (nothing worse tha having to listen to your wife complain ). They usually can find a way to get you out pretty quick, and then they call the elevator maintenance people, who do immediately come out and fix the problem, but a couple of weeks later they act up again. I sometimes go in to the office on the weekend or after hours, but if I didn't have my direct line to DH, I would be terrified to get in those elevators at those times.

 

[miss missy]

You don't live in Tampa do you? The elevators in our building do this a lot.

It is not unusual for people to be late to work because they have been stuck in the elevator. I work on the 8th floor, so taking the stairs all the time really is not a good option. My DH works for the owner of the building, and believe me, he gets an earful whenever anyone I know, ESPECIALLY ME, gets stuck, and he in turn gives an earful to his employer (nothing worse tha having to listen to your wife complain ). They usually can find a way to get you out pretty quick, and then they call the elevator maintenance people, who do immediately come out and fix the problem, but a couple of weeks later they act up again. I sometimes go in to the office on the weekend or after hours, but if I didn't have my direct line to DH, I would be terrified to get in those elevators at those times.

Yes we are on the 9th floor. (edit op too add that) otherwise we would walk too. Just isn't enough time for breaks and some just can't handle that walk. Ours too is ok for a couple weeks after, but with 4 of them, one is bound to do it anytime. We can't get out until the elevator people get us out. Its so annoying to deal with this all the time. Some people really freak and could have a freaking heart attack in there, not know if it is gonna fall the rest of the way!

 

[crazyme5kids]

There must be a local town or county building safety inspector you could call., or the fire marshall. I would think that they could be in violation of fire safety issues.

 

[HonestAbe]

A call to the fire marshall should help clear this up.

 

[ilovejack02]

Yes we are on the 9th floor. (edit op too add that) otherwise we would walk too. Just isn't enough time for breaks and some just can't handle that walk. Ours too is ok for a couple weeks after, but with 4 of them, one is bound to do it anytime. We can't get out until the elevator people get us out. Its so annoying to deal with this all the time. Some people really freak and could have a freaking heart attack in there, not know if it is gonna fall the rest of the way!

OH MY yall dont work in the same building do yall?? lol

 

[miss missy]

There must be a local town or county building safety inspector you could call., or the fire marshall. I would think that they could be in violation of fire safety issues.

ya probably so.

 

[ducklite]

Call the state--there will be a department who is in charge of elevator inspections and make a complaint. Also the building inspector in the town or sity your office is in. Let them know that people have actually been trapped in the elevator.

Anne

 

[Wishing on a star]

I agree, there should be a way to make a formal, and anonymous complaint.

Where I live, all elevators have to pass inspection, and each building is issued a permit. There is a sign posted in/at every single elevator that states that the elevator has a valid permit, which can be seen in the buildings office.

I would find the appropriate agency or department and file a complaint.

 

[fireman17]

The elevators should be taken out of service until they are repaired. As for being told to not call the fire department, each time someone gets stuck CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!!! That's what we are there for public service and no, we don't charge and they have they authority to place the elevators out of service. Anything can happen with a stuck elevators, people panic and try to get themselves out and horrible injuries have occured. They also can have someone with a medical condition and needs help.
When we respond to a stuck elevator the first thing we do for our own safety is secure the power to the elevator and once it's off we don't turn it back on and the elevator is placed out of service.
A quick phone call to the local fire marshal won't hurt either.
I hope this helps you out I've been a firefighter going on 20 years and we never charged for our service to the public..

 

[miss missy]

The elevators should be taken out of service until they are repaired. As for being told to not call the fire department, each time someone gets stuck CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!!! That's what we are there for public service and no, we don't charge and they have they authority to place the elevators out of service. Anything can happen with a stuck elevators, people panic and try to get themselves out and horrible injuries have occured. They also can have someone with a medical condition and needs help.
When we respond to a stuck elevator the first thing we do for our own safety is secure the power to the elevator and once it's off we don't turn it back on and the elevator is placed out of service.
A quick phone call to the local fire marshal won't hurt either.
I hope this helps you out I've been a firefighter going on 20 years and we never charged for our service to the public..

Thanks, I wonder why we are being told that by the boss then. Why are they afraid to call the firefighters? Last time, one of us did call since they wouldn't! I guess we will keep doing that. I am hoping we put in a complaint too. This CO just will do anything to save a dollar, including putting us a risk!

 

[fireman17]

Your boss is afraid to call the fire department for the simple fact that they will tell him the elevators are not to be used until they are repaired. And that means he has to spend money to repair them.
And in the meantime if you boss doesn't fix them keep calling the fire department each and every time someone gets stuck. Let me tell you from experience any firefighter or company officer will get some action taken for you after three or four runs to your building for elevator emergencies.

 

[Wishing on a star]

That is right...
Not only with the fire department, but building codes...
I am thinking that the building owner can get in some hot water over issues like this, building codes, etc... I would imagine that it is not legal to maintain rental property with that many floors without maintaining a working and SAFE elevator.

Very simply, covering their own behind is more important than everyones wellfare.

 

[bevtoy]

Thanks, I wonder why we are being told that by the boss then. Why are they afraid to call the firefighters? Last time, one of us did call since they wouldn't! I guess we will keep doing that. I am hoping we put in a complaint too. This CO just will do anything to save a dollar, including putting us a risk!

If money is the issue , the fire fighters in our area bill for services when they are called now. That may be why the boss doesn't want you to call them, it also leaves a paper trail if there is ever a law suit.

 

[miss missy]

Your boss is afraid to call the fire department for the simple fact that they will tell him the elevators are not to be used until they are repaired. And that means he has to spend money to repair them.
And in the meantime if you boss doesn't fix them keep calling the fire department each and every time someone gets stuck. Let me tell you from experience any firefighter or company officer will get some action taken for you after three or four runs to your building for elevator emergencies.

ya but this is a huge CO, my boss is a pee wee compared to the rest hugher up, its not his money... he just has no guts I guess.

 

[miss missy]

That is right...
Not only with the fire department, but building codes...
I am thinking that the building owner can get in some hot water over issues like this, building codes, etc... I would imagine that it is not legal to maintain rental property with that many floors without maintaining a working and SAFE elevator.

Very simply, covering their own behind is more important than everyones wellfare.

The CO owns the building.. its their headquarters for gosh sakes, its in a BIG city and worth millions.

 

[hpygrll]

Seems very dangerous to me - I live by Ohio State and this year a Freshman was trapped and crushed (killed) by an elevator that continually stopped working. It happened so often that he tried to get off when it was stuck - it started to move and crushed him......I wouldn't mess awound with faulty elevators.

Jenny

 

[Jeanny]

yeah, I'd be calling the fire department every time it gets stuck. We had an elevator in one of our buildings that is used only for handicapped/wheelchairs. Well, it got stuck when one poor girl in a wheelchair was in it... it got repaired REAL fast after that.

 

[dfoulk]

I am sorry you had such a frightening experience.

I work in the elevator field and want to share some info about elevators that may put your mind at ease if you or anyone else gets stuck in a stalled elevator again.

First of all, you did the right thing by calling for help instead of trying to pry the doors open and climb out which can be very dangerous. If there is not a medical emergency, it is usually safer to wait for elevator personnel to do the rescuing instead of using the fire department. If you had waited the hour for elevator personnel to help, they may have been able to bring the elevator car into a landing, opened the doors and let you walk out instead of climbing through the escape hatch and up a ladder in the hoistway where you could have fallen.

As for the elevator falling, it is suspended on a minimum of three extremely strong steel wire ropes and usually more, at least four to six. These ropes run between the car and a counterweight. For the elevator to fall it would have to be separated from the counterweight by severing all of the ropes. Also, the safeties (a type of emergency brake) would have to fail. It only happens in the movies. The last time a passenger elevator fell in the U.S. due to severed ropes was in the 1940s when an airplane lost in fog struck the Empire State Building.

It sounds like the elevator you were on has some problems but I hope this info puts your mind at ease about using elevators.

Dewey