Product Description

Otis Elevator Company, the dominant American elevator manufacturer through the twentieth century, supplied geared and gearless traction hoist machines to office towers, hotels, hospitals, factories, and public buildings throughout the United States. Otis hoist machines used a spring-set, electrically released drum or disc brake mounted in the machine room to hold the car at floor and to arrest motion in emergency and power-loss conditions.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Otis specified asbestos-fabric brake linings — woven and molded chrysotile-reinforced friction material — bonded or riveted to the brake shoes of its passenger and freight hoist machines during the decades when asbestos was the industry-standard friction material for elevator brakes. Plaintiffs allegedly encountered these linings during original installation, periodic adjustment, and full brake-shoe relining performed on a scheduled maintenance cycle.

Asbestos Content

Plaintiffs alleged that Otis Elevator hoist-machine brake assemblies contained asbestos in one or more of the roles common to elevator friction hardware:

  • Woven asbestos brake fabric linings — riveted or bonded to steel brake shoes bearing on the hoist-machine drum.
  • Molded asbestos-composition brake blocks — used on later disc and drum designs.
  • Asbestos-bearing brake dust accumulations — deposited on machine-room floors and inside brake housings by normal service wear.
  • Replacement parts and service instructions — plaintiffs alleged that Otis service literature and parts catalogs specified asbestos-bearing friction linings for routine relining well into the 1970s.

Workers Exposed

  • Elevator constructors (IUEC) — installing new hoist machines and relining brake shoes during modernization work.
  • Elevator mechanics and adjusters — routine brake adjustment, cleaning brake dust from machine-room floors, and replacing worn shoes.
  • Building maintenance mechanics — assisting with brake work in hotels, hospitals, and industrial buildings.
  • Millwrights — freight-elevator installation and overhaul in factories and warehouses.
  • Bystanders — engineers, electricians, and building staff sharing enclosed machine-room spaces during brake service.

Take-home exposure was alleged where elevator constructors carried asbestos fibers home on contaminated work clothing.