The majority of elevators at CSUN have operated with expired inspection permits for more than seven months.
Susan Arvanitis, administrative support coordinator at Physical Plant Management, said all elevators inspected in August 2004 were not updated in August 2005 as required by state regulations.
“I’ve made five or six calls since August (2005),” Arvanitis said. “We have not had any inspections (by Division of Occupational Safety and Health) this year.”
Arvanitis said while there have not been any inspections this year by DOSH, CSUN has a contract with AMTECH to have the elevators inspected every month.
“They check everything about the elevators every month,” Arvanitis said.
DOSH sent PPM a letter stating that while no inspections have been done this year, there won’t be any penalties for the lack of inspections, Arvanitis said.
“They’re short-handed and there is no penalty (for past due inspections),” Arvanitis said. “We have a lot, almost 60 elevators on campus and they’re aware of it.”
Out of the nearly 60 elevators on campus, about two do not have an expired permit, she said.
Tim Killops, facilities and project manager for The University Corporation, oversees three elevators in Sierra Center.
TUC gets its elevators inspected by DOSH, and the results are sent to Arvanitis.Monthly and annual inspections are done by a company named Thyssenkrupp.
He said the elevators have the same problem with expired inspection certificates.
“The state is really backed up in inspecting the elevators,” Killops said.
Killops said TUC contracts out for monthly maintenance of the Sierra Center elevators.
Dean Fryer, spokesperson for the California Division of Industrial Relations, runs DOSH and said even though permits have expired, there is no reason to believe the elevators are faulty.
“Expired (elevator) permits doesn’t mean the elevators are unsafe,” Fryer said.
Fryer said he talked to a manager from the Glendale office of DOSH, who reported that an inspector had been assigned to inspect CSUN elevators about two weeks ago.
Inspectors work in a sweep of the San Fernando Valley. The Glendale office covers the Valley Fryer said.
Fryer said no specific date has been set for the inspections.
Robert Chianese, English professor, has an office on the eighth floor of Sierra Tower and has worked at CSUN for over 30 years. He said the tower’s elevators do have problems.
“There’s always problems with the elevators,” Chianese said. “I’m not afraid they will fail.”
Nicole Torrence, sophomore psychology major, had not noticed that the inspection certificates were expired.
Torrence said she was claustrophobic in elevators and worries that they might malfunction.
“(I’m worried) that the elevators are going to (get) stuck and that a lot of people will get stuck,” Torrence said.
Joseph Wilson can be reached at city@csun.edu.
