Sacramento Area Local News

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ― With an undercover camera, CBS13 caught a loud knocking sound on tape, clear evidence of a dangerous escalator at a local shopping mall, and we also found out-of-date permits for elevators that are supposed to be inspected every year by the state.

When we asked questions, we got more than just answers: Because of our investigation, the state took immediate action.

CBS13 discovered the dangerous escalator in Macy's, and found several elevators and escalators throughout the city with expired permits, some of them years out of date.

If you think expired permits or noisy escalators are nothing to worry about, the story of two-year-old Madeline in Minneapolis may make you reconsider.

"I was going down an escalator, next think I knew she's screaming and tugging at my arm," said Madeline's father.

Madeline's foot was caught. While at the Maplewood Mall, she rode a narrow escalator that caught her small foot in its moving steps.

"Her bones were crushed and the tendons were severed so her foot was like in two pieces," Madeline's mother said.

Madeline isn't alone. Just six months ago, the State of California reported a small child lost a toe in an escalator accident. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that 10,500 accidents occur every year on escalators. Many victims are children, like Madeline.

CBS13 producers spent weeks checking elevator and escalator permits in the Sacramento area. They took pictures of several out-of-date permits, like this one in Sacramento's K Street Mall. Some were years behind, like a permit in a Sears elevator at Arden Fair Mall that dates back to 2005.

They also found that noisy Macy's escalator downtown.

On elevators, the injury rate is not as high. The state says most accidents involve doors opening at the wrong time or people tripping and falling when they step inside, but the problem the state sees most often is expired permits.

Len Welsh oversees the state department that inspects elevators and escalators. He insists expired permits aren't common, but admits you will see some that are months out of date. They don't necessarily show passengers what's going on behind the scenes.

"They can guess, well, it probably was inspected and they still owe the state something and so they probably haven't gotten a new permit," Welsh said.

The state says they're trying to institute temporary permits, but owns up to the fact that CBS13 highlighted a problem the state is battling. When we told the state about that banging Macy's escalator, they acted fast, shutting down the escalator and requiring it to be repaired within 24 hours.

It was just the scenario the state warned us should raise a red flag.

"If it's making a lot of noise, if there does look like a large gap, that's something your foot could get caught in, that would be a sign," Welsh said.

But this action came only after we reported it and alerted them to an improperly posted elevator permit in that downtown Macy's, and the expired permit in Westfield Mall.

The state did confirm their inspections were up to date, but by the time they went to check out the permit posting problems, Macy's and Westfield Mall had corrected them. Even though we had evidence the store and mall were out of compliance, the state didn't fine them.

We wanted to know: Why did it take CBS13 asking all these questions to get the job done?

The state admits it can't keep up.

"We have a backlog of about 18,000 inspections out of more than 100,000 conveyances in the state and my managers tell me… nine months is, for the most part, the outside you're going to see unless something has really slipped through the cracks," Welsh said.

They blame, among other things, an issue I highlighted in a special report last year: questionable cables used by Thyssen Krupp.

"We have some of those elevators in the state, and we decided for a long time we had to inspect them every two weeks," Welsh said.

Does Welsh think it's fair to say that the public can rely on the inspection system with such a backlog?

"It think it's basically functioning… it's not functioning the way it should," he said. Welsh said he doesn't think public safety is "jeopardized in any kind of serious hazard sense."

The state doesn't know for sure how many passengers are hurt on elevators and escalators annually, because in California there is no requirement to report accidents, even though they can have serious consequences.

"I do think it's important for people to look at the permit and say, 'I can go to the bank with that,'" Welsh said.

It's likely Madeline's mother would agree.

"People ride them every day, and they never know," she said.

Welsh believes even though the permitting system is behind, he says you can feel safe on elevators and escalators. That said, Welsh admits fixing this is not Cal-OSHA's number one priority.

They have been working on short staff issues for years, and were confident they'll have competitive wage and benefits packages to fill those positions soon. Of course, we spoke before the worst of the economic downturn, so we'll see.

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