Elevator defective for years before fatal plunge

• Worker fell 51 feet to his death.
• Company knew about faulty elevator doors for 26 months.

CEMEX allowed workers to use a broken elevator at its Louisville cement plant for 26 months before a contract employee fell to his death in February, federal regulators allege in a report made public this week.

Even though the company called in a repair team a week before Filipe Mata Vizcaya opened the elevator's fourth-floor doors, stepped into the shaft, and fell 51 feet, the U.S. Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration still blamed the company's management for his death. While there were repairs to the doors in the days before the accident, MSHA's report said the company had been made aware in October 2011 that the doors were "defective and needed to be replaced to prevent them from opening when the elevator car was not at that floor."

MSHA concluded that "management acted with aggravated conduct constituting more than ordinary negligence in knowing of the safety defects in the ... doors and disregarding the fact that (workers) were being exposed to fatal fall hazards."

CEMEX also failed to make sure there was a "competent person" to check workplaces for hazards, including the elevator, at least one time each shift, the agency asserted.

CEMEX spokeswoman Sara Engdahl and other CEMEX officials did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.

On Feb. 21, the doors' worn condition caused the malfunction, allowing them to open when the elevator car was not there, according to the report.

Vizcaya left behind a wife and three children, according to his obituary.

MSHA has jurisdiction because the accident occurred at a milling operation, said spokeswoman Amy Louviere. The plant in southwest Louisville uses limestone as an ingredient in its process.

The company, which is based in Mexico, has been cited for a safety violation as a result of the findings. Louviere said penalties associated with that citation are still being determined.

The company has stopped using the elevator and workers are using the stairs, MSHA said. Employees have since been trained to conduct daily workplace safety inspections and warning signs have been posted, according to MSHA.

Reach reporter James Bruggers at (502) 582-4645 or on Twitter @jbruggers.