Elevator Safety Act report, 2003

              Oklahoma Construction Industries Board
Boyd W. West, C.B.O., Administrator
January 2, 2004
The Honorable Brad Henry, Governor
State of Oklahoma
212 State Capitol Building
2300 N. Lincoln Boulevard
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105-4890
Dear Governor Henry:
The Construction Industries Board was instructed to submit a report to the Governor, the
President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on
the data collected pursuant to 59 O.S. § 3010 (Elevator Safety Act) of any injury, which
occurs as a result of the operation or malfunction of an elevator.
Construction Industries staff and legal counsel met with the Oklahoma Chapter of
Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), the Tulsa Chapter of BOMA, and
Pat Hall, President of the Capital Group for their input on language that would be placed
in emergency and permanent rules the Board promulgated March 26, 2003, and which
was signed by Governor Brad Henry on May 12, 2003. A web site was created to give
elevator entities information about the Elevator Safety Act, promulgated rules, and an
accident reporting form with instructions for submission.
A letter was composed and sent to 997 elevator owners or lessees in Oklahoma City and
456 elevator owners or lessees in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 1, 2002, informing
them about the new legislation. The City of Oklahoma City and the City of Tulsa
downloaded their elevator databases for our use. The addresses used from those databases
were obsolete and many letters came back as "not deliverable."
Because of the many returned letters, an attempt was made to contact all the elevator
maintenance contractors in the state to obtain an updated list of their clients. There was
nothing in the new law that would require disclosure from the maintenance contractors.
The refusal of the maintenance contractors to supply updated elevator lists (because their
information becomes public record once it is sent to us) has hampered our efforts in
covering the entire state, but we have made contact with the majority of the urban
Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas.
2401 NW 23rd Street, Suite 5, Oklahoma City, OK 73107 Phone 405.271.5217 Fax 405.271.5254 www.health.state.ok.us/cib