Today, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that it has settled an administrative lawsuit with thyssenkrupp Access Corp. (TKA) to resolve charges that specific models of its elevators present a hazard that can result in serious injury or death.
TKA manufactured and distributed about 16,800 residential elevators between 1996 and 2012. There have been three incidents involving entrapment in these elevators, including a 2-year old child who died and an incident that left a 3-year old child permanently disabled.
I am pleased that the parties reached a resolution that will provide relief to consumers who own these elevators. TKA has agreed to recall its elevators and provide the same fix that other elevator companies have agreed to provide to their customers.
For years, manufacturers have been aware that residential elevators can pose a severe risk of serious injury or death to children. There is no reason why it continues to be a deadly hazard when the safety defect has a relatively simple and well-known fix.
Consumers and their families should feel safe using the residential elevators in their own homes, the homes of relatives, or in rental or vacation homes. I urge all homeowners, residential management companies, and others to determine if their residential elevator contains this potential entrapment hazard and, if so, to get a fix installed. Watch this Public Service Announcement for more information.
This is an important step that will prevent further harm from this hazard and I am committed to continuing this work and preventing future entrapment injuries and deaths. I thank CPSC staff who worked so hard to resolve this matter. The agency will continue its work to ensure that all consumer products are safe for individuals and families to use. In the meantime, I encourage consumers to report hazards to CPSC so that we can uncover defects and save lives. Let us know what you are seeing at saferproducts.gov.