
In the meantime, officials have shut down and sealed both elevators in Stradley Hall, leaving it's 400 residents on 11 floors to take the stairs.
Andrew Polakowski - known simply as Polo by his friends, was a pre-business major at Ohio State. This was his first quarter.
In doing some investigative work for my newspaper, I have come across some new disturbing information about the death of an Ohio State student that occurred on Friday night.
Andrew Polakowski, an 18 year old freshman from Erie Pennsylvania, was tragically killed when he was the last of a group of students to enter an elevator on the third floor of Stradley Hall, a campus dorm, when the elevator began to descend towards the lobby with the doors open.
What happened next is still unclear, as Polakowski tried to exit the elevator and became pinned between the second and third floors of the building. According to reports from the Franklin County Coroner, Polakowski's abdomen and chest were crushed, and he died of mechanical asphyxia (suffocation).
Police reports have indicated that 24 people were on the elevator at the time of the accident. Given the unit's 2500 limit, it was almost certainly overloaded beyond capacity - each person would have had to weigh 104 pounds or less to remain within the limit.
However, this case is not as clear cut as an overcrowded elevator.
The following is a 2001 report from The Lantern about Ohio State University elevators:
Since then the "lifespan" of an elevator is said to be only 20 years. The average age of the 84 elevators Housing, Food Service and Events are responsible for are 35 years old, said Steven Schick, assistant director of Housing, Food Services, and Event Centers and person in charge of modifying and renovating that department's elevators.
...
Two to three elevators a year are modified by Physical Facilities but 50 should be upgraded according to Lighthiser (maintenance division director of Physical Facilities at OSU).
By Ohio State's own admission, many of the elevators around campus should have been replaced long ago and were out of date even five years ago.
The elevator Andrew Polakowski died on Friday night was installed in 1958. Elevator certificates confirm this - as well as media reports from outlets who have obtained copies of the records. By Ohio State's own estimate from the 2001 Lantern report, the elevator should have been replaced decades ago. Though some elevators on South Campus were renovated in 1998, this was clearly not one of them.
Could a young man's life have been saved if The Ohio State University had kept it's facilities current and up-to-date? Friends, family, and students will not know until the campus police and Ohio Department of Commerce (the state's elevator regulatory agency) finish their investigation.
In the meantime, both elevators in Stradley Hall have been shut down until the investigation is complete, leaving the 400 residents on 11 floors taking the stairs.
For its part, Ohio State president Karen Holbrook released the following statement:
"It is critically important that we understand all the facts about this terrible situation before drawing any conclusion about the cause or causes. I have also asked Student Affairs to arrange for an independent review of all residence hall elevators to give our students added confidence that their elevators are safe and secure."
While it is a nice gesture, for Andrew 'Polo' Polakowski's grieving friends, family, and fellow students, the words may ring on deaf ears as they try to come to terms with why such a promising young man met such an untimely and tragic demise.
Update: Since this article was written, six elevators on the south campus of Ohio State have now been shut down because, when tested, they failed a brake test. Additionally, the second elevator that was shut down in Stradley Hall was because it failed a load test - where the elevator is tested at its rated weight limit.
It is horrible when you have avoidable deaths like this - nothing can replace a son, brother, friend, or partner, and a simple death is tough enough to handle. But when it occurs over someone being either lazy on the job or from an attempt to cut costs, what could be worse. Those most touched by his death will now have someone to blame, and that is not always easier.
RIP
Great investigative work here Corey. It's very important to have people in the press advocate and the school community should be happy to have you doing that. There's nothing like shining a light on facts; that helps everyone.
Sometimes a reporter needs to go undercover Corey to get the story. ; )
In all seriousness, great job on the story. Hopefully a full investigation will prevent further accidents.
In addition to your school Administration there must be city zoning offices required to keep records of inspections and contractors registered to perform maintenance. Here in NYC it's a huge deal and inspection certificates need to be displayed. It's likely that the spokesman is only going to give out PR soundbites. That's not to suggest any wrong on his part just the nature of the beast. Good for you to keep at it, who knows what may come of it. It's impossible to guess what may emerge.
See that, you're already one step ahead.!
When I read the news regarding this accident it made me sad. This young man was just beginning his college life and to have it end in this manner seems senseless.
I understand that these elevators were past their prime, but aren't all elevators inspected by the State of Ohio and issued new permits each year? If so, seems to me like these elevators should never have passed the inspection. I guess we will wait for the details to be sorted out.
Corey, I wondered if you might not be reporting on this. Good job. If you need any supporting material I can email you on my experience with a Mexican elevator just last winter.
I am aware of many old but still used elevators in many places. I know that most of them, if not all, get regular inspections which are certified. I presume with proper maintenance and upgrades, elevators are safe for very long periods. I would be interested in knowing more about that 20 year life span mentioned. That sounds mighty short. I could see that figure being between major overhauls. Any idea where it came from other than as a quote from an old newspaper?
I guess the important thing to know is; would the elevator still have failed when overloaded if it was less than 20 years old?
I'd always hoped that an elevator would just stop if overloaded and wouldn't be able to move to another level until enough people got out. Perhaps newer lifts do. That would beg the question; if this lift was out of date and newer lifts are much safer why wasn't a new one installed?
What a tragedy. Thank you for the report Corey. RIP to that young man.
I'm certainly no elevator expert, but it seems like something like an elevator should have a factor of safety of at least 2, and when an elevator fails, a back-up brake should hold it in place. (just my opinion, i have no experience with elevator design). Unfortunately, on a college campus, elevators should probably only be selected for use if they are rated to hold as many people and kegs as you can pack into them. Of course, everything is clearer in hindsight. It's a very sad chain of events. Thanks for the report.
I used to live in Morrill Tower next to stadium. The elevators there were horrifying. I hope that University officials take care of this matter.
Good work, Corey.
I lived in Morrill last year, and yes, at least one of the six elevators seemed to be broken once a week, but when they worked (and most of the time they did), they are some of the best elevators at OSU in my opinion
well good thing when I transferred to OSU I didn't have to live in the dorms.
My brother was in that building during his freshman year.
I remember those elevators. I'd like to know 2 things:
were there any obese people (excuse my french) on the elevator?
I honestly feel that these "maximum weight" displays in the U.S. become irrelevant because while usually security measures are put in place so that the elevator can even hold extra hundreds of pounds than the max. weight display, those measures still count "people" as average weight individual.
And as you know Corey, I'm not trying to be a dick, but that campus does have obesity, it's not rampant, but it's there. Also, I am not implying that everybody on that elevator was fat, because I was not there.
I really do not want to sound cynical, because a college freshman has just died, but whether this elevator was from the past or from the future, 24 students on 1 college dorm elevator? It's tragic. I wish someone present would have remembered that elevator accidents don't happen simply in the movies, sometimes they happen in real-life.
I wonder how much it would cost to install a little bell that rings whenever the elevator is too close to maximum limit, it really would not hurt.
I think it probably had one--a broke-ass one.
This is why I am afraid of elevators (and escalators). I can handle them, but that doesn't mean I like riding them.
Thanks for more light being shed on this matter, Corey. Love your work.
I'm afraid that as soon as I start stepping into the elevator, the two doors will slam shut with a bang and entrap me in their hideous snare. They will also have bloody blades, loud metal rock will start playing, and everyone in the building will turn out to be a zombie. And then the elevator will try moving up or down and I will be ripped apart.
/I really am scared of those damn elevators
This is terrible.
I'm still inclined to say that the elevator is not all that "malfunctioned" here--these kids are in University. They should know better. And OSU needs to take better care of their elevators: in buildings like Denney, which don't see nearly as much traffic as the dorms, I am always hopeful that the clanking and grinding sounds were there when the elevator was born, but God knows they probably weren't.
Awesome reporting as always Corey, this is pretty sad stuff though.
CNN has an article posted now.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/24/elevator.death.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
Interesting, but I'm inclined to believe that major fault sits with whoever was inspecting the elevators if in fact it is proved that they should have been retired.
With that said, i enter into this with caution as it seems pretty clear that they were way over the load limit and that he attempted to exit the elevator as it was moving to the next floor.
It seems to me as though the University will be absolved so long as they can prove that the certificates were up to date and that a load limit sign was posted. At that point it becomes an unfortunate judgment call on the part of those in the elevator. I'm sure at the time it seemed humorous to cram that many people onto an elevator but it simply illustrates why we put limits on technology that we shouldn't ignore.
Tragic -- but avoidable in more ways than one.
I heard a rumour that OSU dorms have shut down six other elevators which subsequently failed brake stop inspections.
A very tragic event, and I agree that it was avoidable in many ways. I laugh at one of the above posts talking about obesity. Eight to ten 250 to 300lb people could get in that elevator and still stay below the maximum weight capacity. I don't even see an Intelligent connection or comparison.
As for the "bells" being installed to warn riders of the approach of the maximum capacity limit, Do you not think that common sense will tell you that 24 people crammed into an elevator is going over the maximum capacity limit? I was young once, and I know I wasn't always alert to all the dangers out there.
If the elevators were faulty, shame on OSU and they need to pay a wrongful death suit and maybe even some type of manslaughter charge should be brought against the university.
I'm still very confused as to what actually happened. I don't need extreme details, but I would like for someone to explain what happened. Was Andy pinned by the ceiling of the elevator against the floor of the 3rd floor? Is this what stopped the elevator from continuing its descent ? I saw the clip on CNN where the student saw him on the third floor. It seems to me that if this was the case more of his body would need to be out of the elevator, and then I wonder why it wasn't his hips and legs that were crushed.
I can't imagine what the students on that elevator saw. It will haunt them their entire lives especially at such a young still impressionable age.
I'll hazard a guess that older elevators aren't required to have the same bells and whistles that newer ones have (i.e. overload switch). Nonetheless, since the university acts in loco parentis, it ought hold itself & be held to a higher standard. Students do goofy dum bass things - a balcony collapse in Cincinnati some years ago comes to mind, though not on university property - & it is reasonable to expect greater precautions to be taken.
This story got to me because I have a friend whose life was drastically altered by a faulty elevator. This friend had to jump through hoops to get what is not even adequate compensation, while every responsible party covered ass with both hands.
Good work, Corey!
I read that the elevator had been tested in July and passed the test.
Which makes me wonder -- are the tests accurate or complete? Why would an elevator, that was tested two months prior, suddenly fail?
Perhaps better testing standards are in order by the elevator companies.
Maybe they tested it at the weight limit, assuming passengers would be more sensible and think twice about cramming inside it the way they did.
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