East County News Service  

August 7, 2019 (Washington D.C.) – The Acting Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission today sent a letter to governors of all 50 states urging building code changes to protect consumers from a dangerous feature found in some residential elevators.  The letter follows a warning issued to consumers after several children became trapped in gaps between the elevator car door and room access door; the youngsters were crushed and died.

If you own a residential elevator, dangerous gaps can be eliminated by placing space guards on the back of the room access door or installing an electronic monitoring device that deactivates the elevator when a child is detected in the gap.  The CPSC urges consumers to contact their elevator manufacturer or an elevator installer to obtain these critical safety devices and protect children from this hidden hazard.