About the elevator incident

On January 25, 2024, an accident occurred at OJSC "Minsk Plant "TERMOPLAST", as a result of which an employee of PE "Berezamebel" fell into the shaft of a freight elevator with internal controls.

During the investigation, it was established that the employee, mistaking the elevator shaft doors for the entrance to the workshop, opened them. Without ensuring that the car was present at the main landing level (the car was on the second floor), he stepped inside and fell into the elevator shaft, resulting in injury.

The causes of the accident were:

Technical cause - operation of a technically faulty elevator with a malfunctioning locking device of the shaft door lock was permitted.

Organizational causes:

lack of control over the fulfillment by the person responsible for industrial control and the person responsible for the safe operation of the elevator of the requirements of the Rules for ensuring industrial safety of elevators, freight-passenger hoists, escalators, passenger conveyors, and their duties as outlined in the instructions;

lack of maintenance personnel (elevator operator) assigned to operate the elevator;

no procedure was established and daily (shift) inspections of the elevator were not organized to identify malfunctions that threaten its safe operation;

operation and maintenance of the elevator were carried out without considering the requirements of the operating manual (the elevator operating manual was missing);

the elevator was put into operation after a technical inspection in violation of the Rules;

the maintenance organization did not exercise control over its employees' work on checking the technical condition and maintenance of the elevator.

Persons who violated the requirements of mandatory technical regulatory legal acts in the field of industrial safety and local legal acts:

- plant employees (person responsible for organizing industrial safety, person responsible for industrial control in the field of industrial safety, person responsible for the safe operation of elevators);

- person responsible for the maintenance and repair of elevators of CJSC "GomelLift";

- industrial safety expert who conducted the technical inspection of the elevator.

Based on the investigation into the causes of the accident, the following measures have been taken:

responsible officials have been held administratively
and disciplinarily liable;

the operation of the elevator has been suspended.