Elevator Safety: What Supports an Elevator Car from Falling?

What stops an elevator from plunging to the ground?

When get into an elevator, you are putting your trust in a system of components. As long as these components are working properly, you won’t have any problems. If a component fails, you might end up having an elevator accident.

What holds the elevator car up?

One of the biggest fears of some people who use elevators is what would happen if it would plunge to the ground. That isn’t likely because a system of cables, which are also called ropes, hold the car up. These cables are rated for the amount of weight they can hold. Generally, each cable has to hold more than the weight of the car, and each car has more than one cable. It is unlikely, but not impossible, for all of the cables holding up a car to fail.

Are there any other dangers besides that car plunging?

There are other accidents that can happen. Electronic components can fail, pulleys can stop working properly or the brakes can malfunction. As is the case with any electronic device, one failing component can lead to an issue. Sometimes, freak accidents like the one that occurred recently in upper Manhattan, can occur. In that case, the freight elevator malfunctioned and pinned the man to the ceiling, which resulted in his death.

Despite all of the safety precautions that elevators have, some accidents involving elevators do occur. These accidents can be deadly. If you are injured in an elevator accident or lose a loved one in one of these tragedies, you might decide that you want to seek compensation to help you reduce the monetary hit the accident causes.

Source: The Washington Post, “Elevator plunges are rare because brakes and cables provide fail-safe protections,” Brian Palmer, accessed Aug. 02, 2016