AUSTIN (1080 KRLD) - State regulators release their findings into an elevator accident at JPS Hospital early this year.
“The report concluded that an elevator brake failure caused the accident,” says Tela Mange with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
“We found that there were worn out brake shoes that didn't set firmly when the elevator arrived at the 10th floor,” says Mange. “And so the elevator continued to move when the doors opened and the nurse attempted to enter the car.”
Nurse Carren Stratford was critically injured in the accident and might not make a full recovery.
The report says the accident was preventable.
“Our investigation found that worn brake shoes and frozen pins illustrated a lack of routine maintenance and equipment checks,” Mange says.
At the time, ThyssenKrupp Elevator was JPS’ elevator maintenance contractor.
The hospital has since fired that company and replaced it with Southwest Elevator.
Mange says there are several things that need to be done before that elevator is placed back into service, and it’ll feel up to the chief elevator inspector to decide when — and if — that happens.
“We're not going to allow the elevator to be put back into service until the braking assembly has been rebuilt, reassembled and then adjusted and tested,” Mange says.
KRLD has reached out to ThyssenKrupp Elevator for reaction to the state report.