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The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries is urging property owners with older residential elevators make safety improvements to prevent danger to children.

In many elevators installed before 2018, there’s a gap between the house-side door and the elevator doors that’s large enough for small children to fit. It creates a crushing hazard when the elevator is in operation. The safety upgrade involves blocking off the excess space.

According to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, children as young as age 2 and as old age 12 have been crushed to death in this gap. The commission issued a product recall earlier this year.

Though there have been no fatalities or injuries reported in Washington, about 80% of the nearly 3,300 residential elevators in the state were installed prior to October 2018 when L&I updated elevator codes.

Topics Washington