Massachusetts Escalator Inspectors Penalized after Death

May 12, 2011

State officials have begun termination proceedings against two suspended safety inspectors after a 4-year-old boy fell to his death from a store escalator at a mall in central Massachusetts.

The Department of Public Safety will also suspend six other inspectors for five days and reprimand 26 others after a sweep of all escalators in Massachusetts found 7.5 percent lacked barricades required to cover a gap between the moving staircases and walls.

A missing barricade caused Mark DiBona of Dudley to fall from an escalator on the second floor of Sears and land on a display case at the Auburn Mall in March.

The department said in a statement released Wednesday that officials are taking disciplinary action against the inspectors because they failed to enforce a code requiring the barricade for openings larger than 5 inches.

Topics Massachusetts

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Latest Comments

  • May 12, 2011 at 1:44 pm
    Bob says:
    I kid proof my house for the times my young grandchildren are over, any store that invites families in to shop should be kid proofed. Anyone who does not do their job, especi... read more
  • May 12, 2011 at 1:26 pm
    Jester says:
    The proximate cause was parental negligence. Any responsible parent would hold the kid's hand and not let him climb atop the handrail. You can't idiot proof everything in th... read more

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