DEFECTIVE LIFT

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 113, 6 February 1936, Page 5

DEFECTIVE LIFT

Evidence at Inquest Into Man’s Death

MISSING LOCK SCREW Suggestion of Tampering ■' w . The death of Robert Witheford, registrar of friendly societies, on January 14 last occurred through his opening the door of the lift in the Dominion Farmers’ Institute building, when the lift was riot on the ground floor, and his falling into the space, a distance of 14 feet. Mr. Witheford received head and pelvis injuries that caused his death. When he did not keep an appointment in the afternoon, his wife became worried. He failed to appear at his home and was not discovered until 7.45 p.m.' on January 15, when Mr. Leigh Hunt associated the disappearance with a narrow escape from injury in using the'lift the day before. The inquest into the circumstances was conducted before the coroner, Mr. E. Gilbertson, JIP., yesterday, and the evidence indicated that there is a mystery about the -whole affair that remains to be solved. The mystery concerns a missing screw in the mechanism of tileouter lift door, and the fact that an interior screw, associated with the missing outer screw, was loose. Thorough search was made by two experts, but no trace of the screw was found. The absence of the screw in the door-lock apparatus had the result of enabling the outer lift door to be opened when the lift was not opposite that door. Six representatives of different parties were present and followed the evidence closely. Senior-Sergeant D. J. O’Neill led the evidence for the police; Mt. C; A. L. Treadwell represented deceased and his relatives; Mr. Evan Parry represented the Dominion farmers’ Institute, owners of the building; Mr. W. E. Leicester represented Tolley and Sons, Ltd., lift contractors; Mr. N. A. Foden represented the inspector of machinery, instructed by the Marine Department; and Mr. H. E. Swindell represented the Electrical Workers’Union. “It. appears to me the lift door was not sufficiently closed, and there was no light in the lift-car itself, and deceased must have stepped into the empty space and fell. . . . Beyond that I’m saying nothing,” said the coroner, whose finding was that death was consequent on injuries received as testified by Dr. Lynch. Lift Inspected.

The evidence showed that the usual weekly testing and inspection was carried out by Tolley and Sons Ltd.’s representative on the Friday before the accident occurred; that the Government inspector of machinery, in company of another representative of Tolley and Sons, made the half-yearly, inspection of the lift on the day before the accident, and that in both cases no defects of any kind were .discovered; and that on the next day a Miss, Nancy Moody, an employee of the Farmers’ Institute, opening the outer lift door when the lift was not on the sama floor, nearly fell into the opening. At that time, 4.30 p.m. on the day of the fataTity, which was not. then known, the" managing director of the Farmers’ Institute barricaded the door, posted up a notice that the lift was out of order, and rang urgently for an expert from Tolley and Sons to come. The expert discovered that a screw was nlissing from the extenor of the door-lock mechanism and that an internal screw was loose. The expert and the inspector of machinery who had made the inspection the day before, later searched for the missing screw but could not find it* It has not been found.

A statement was made by the. representative of the Electrical Workers’ Union during the course of liis questionings of various witnesses that there had been widespread tampering by unauthorised persons with electrical equipment throughout the city. He declared that, in his opinion, there' would be even greater fatalities tiian tliat which was being inquired into. Both the expert of Tolley and Sons and the Government inspector declared they could not account for the missing screw, not explain how such screws became loose. The inspector gave his opinion emphatically that either the screws had worked loose in very quick time, which was improbable, or there had been deliberate tampering with them. Alexander Roberts, a clerk, who knew deceased, said deceased was not subject to fits or giddiness. Crossexamined by Mr. Leicester, he said he wore glasses but had good eyesight. Colin Cosson, clerk irt tiie National Provident Office, said he saw deceased at 1.35 p.m. on January 14. Deceased was then wearing his overcoat, jhat and spectacles. Witness understood deceased was shortsighted. Nancy Agnes Moody, manageress of the sale store of the Farmers’ Institute, said she pressed the ground floor button at 4.30, p.m. on January 14, expected the life to come, heard no noise, and concluded the lift was on the ground floor*' A Narrow Escape.

"I opened the door thinking the lift was there.' I put my foot forward and discovered nothing there. 1 stepped back, and then could sec the lift was at the second floor. I could not say for certain that the door was properly closed.” Witness immediately informed Mr. Leigh Hunt, who took action. Miss Moody had almost fallen down the shaft, said Arthur Leigh Hunt, managing director of the institute. He went .with her and found the door would open without the lift being opposite. He barricaded the door, typed three notices that the lift was out of order, placed them in position, and rang for the lift contractor to send a man immediately. The expert said the defect was due to a screw being loose in the door-lock. Witness requested the inspector of machinery to call and he explained the narrow escape. The plate had to be removed before the ioose screw could be seen. He said the lift had been inspected by him the day before and the doors then had been in working order. i “While thinking out the disappearance of Mr. Witheford,” said witness, speaking of his concern on January 15, “it suddenly occurred to me that there was just th© possibility that he might have gone through the ground floor door of the lift prior to Miss Moody’s incident.” That led to the discovery of the tragedy. Lift Lights Oil'. The lift had been operated on January 14 without the interior light in the lift working, said William Lewis Comrie, of the National Provident Office. The switch in the lift was used but

there was no response of light. Witness took no particular notice of that as it had happened before. Crossexamined, he said he had not noticed anything wrong with the lift on January 14 before the notice was put up. Discovery of the body was made by Edward Collins Jack, secretary of the institute. He rang the police. The drop, he said, would-be about 14 feet. Cross-examined by Mr. Foden, witness said he, as secretary of the institute for many years, had received complaints of tampering -with the lifts, removal of parts, and mischief. Cross-examined by Mr. Swindell, witness said he had never had to warn any person from the lifts; they had never been able to catch anybody. “The light was switched off at the distribution board in the basement,” said Olaf Hokanson, electrician for Tolley and Sons, who had made thp inspection at the request of Mr. Leigh Hunt at 5 p.m. on January 14. That statement was made in answer to the Coroner. Witness did not know what reason there could be for the light not being used. It was desirable, he agreed with the Coroner, to have lights on lifts. It was compulsory. Describing the tests he made on the Friday previous, witness said all then was In order. He was confident of that. The tests made of the doors indicated no weakness of any screws or machanism. Cross-examined, he said he had found there was some tampering with lifts. He had discovered, for instance, one handle tied .back so that the lift door eould be opened more quickly. Government Inspection. The half-yearly inspection of the lift was made by him the day before the fatality, said Clement C. Richardson. Inspector of Machinery. The lift inspection he made (in company of a representative of the lift . contracting firm) consisted of the following:— All landing door locks were tested, and the car was stopped with the lock operating cam two inches above and below the lock level; the car gates were tested by opening the car gate while the car was in motion ; all ropes were examined from top of car to machine room; emergency button was tested ; all locks were examined; control room and machine room were examined; the car was tried at each floor level for starting with landing gate open and with car gate open; all safety appliances were examined and checked. The lift yvas found to be in good, repair. Questioned by the Coroner, witness said the disappearance of the screw was due either to It working out, which was improbable, or to direct interference. Questioned by Mr. Treadwell, he said he tried the lift for slackness, but didn’t try every screw with a screwdriver. He searched everywhere for the missing screw. Questioned by Mr. Foden, witness said the accident was the first of the ,kind traced to the cause In this instance. The lock was of standard type. To the Coroner, witness said the light in the lift was not defective. Lights were absolutely essential in lifts.