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Man dies in Chelsea freight elevator accident

Email|Link|Comments (3) March 13, 2009 06:16 PM

By Milton Valencia, Globe Staff

CHELSEA -- A man in his 30s was killed this afternoon when a freight elevator he was working on at an industrial building fell on him, police said.

The accident happened about 4:10 p.m. at State Garden Inc. at 360 Beacham St. in the city's produce warehouse district, said Police Chief Brian Kyes.

The man had rigged the elevator to stay up while he was working on it, Kyes said.

"It appears he was working on an elevator, doing some kind of work on it, and it just kind of gave way," Kyes said.

Kyes said the man worked for State Garden, not for an elevator repair company. "I don't think that's his specialty," he said.

Investigators from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Chelsea Police, and the Suffolk district attorney's office are on the scene, he said.

A message left for Mark J. Demichaelis of Winchester, who is listed in state records as president of the company, wasn't immediately returned.

3 comments so far...

In an effort to gain control over the many pieces of lift equipment in Massachusetts and those companies operating said lifts, the Commonwealth of Mass as of January 13 2009 adopted new regulations governing who is authorized to service and maintain this type of equipment. Unfortunately many if not all companies currently operating material lifts do not want to pay the cost associated with having a trained and licensed technician perform there service and repair. It is unfotunate that these events will continue to occur as much of this equipment begins to age and become even more dangerous and prone to catastrophic failure. The Commonwealth of Mass in conjunction with the Board of Elevator Regulations recently revised Chapter 143 passed new house bill" HB5175 - Chapter 500 of the Acts of 2008 - "AN ACT RELATIVE TO ELEVATOR REGULATIONS."
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled and by the authority of the same as follows:
Chapter 143 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 71E as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 71E. As used in sections 62 to 71F inclusive the term “elevator” shall include moving stairways, dumbwaiters, moving walks, material lifts, wheelchair lifts, automatic people movers, vertical reciprocating conveyors, orchestra lifts, car lifts, and other associated devices within the elevator industry recognized by the board of elevator regulations except inclined stair lifts located and installed in residential homes.
Approved January 13 2009

Posted by Chris Kasmarek March 14, 09 09:09 AM

My condolences go out to the family. This is yet another sad reminder that Elevator Construction , Repairs and Maintenance is a very dangerous job. I believe that statistically out of all the Building Trades that Elevator Constructors have the lowest injury rate, but, also have the dubious destinction of having the highest death rate.
To this end I always urge all building maintenance and facilities personnel to leave the repairs and maintenance up to Licenesed and trained professionals !.

Posted by Ricky March 14, 09 09:11 AM

I am a licensed elevator mechanic, and I would like to express my condolences to the family. I would also like to emphasize that elevator work is a specialized field that should not be left to untrained people. Building owners, I hope that this gets the message across that your maintenance employees have no business working on elevator equipment, or in an elevator shaft. I spent five years in an educational program, as well as on the job training under experienced mechanics to be where I am today. Leave the elevator work to the ones that know what they're doing.

Posted by Bubba March 14, 09 01:34 PM