Quote:

Elevator, escalator

injuries up by 60%

The number of injuries to people on elevators and escalators has increased by 60 percent since the state began privatizing their inspections, a newspaper reported on Monday.

State officials said the number of elevators and escalators has also jumped, too, however, accounting for part of the increase.

The state completed a shift to private inspectors in 2002, a move seen as good because it greatly increased the number of people available to do the inspections, from 28 staff inspectors before privatization to more than 200 certified private inspectors after.

The increased number of inspectors decreased the backlog in elevators and escalator inspections by 70 percent, but a backlog remains, with nearly a third of the state's 43,000-odd elevators and escalators showing no proof they've been inspected and certified annually, as the law requires, the Tallahassee Democrat reported Monday.

The number of accidents involving injuries went from 320 in fiscal year 2000-2001, the full year before privatization, to 515 in the 2004-2005 fiscal year that ended June 30, the newspaper reported.

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