LIHUE » Expired operating permits for elevators in Kauai buildings highlight state inspectors’ inability to travel to the neighbor islands, according to state workers responsible for the inspections.

Seventy-eight percent of Hawaii’s 6,700 elevators and related systems have expired operating permits, including some on Kauai that have expired permits dating to 2008, The Garden Island newspaper reported Friday.

The state’s Elevator Inspection Section has no supervisor and there are just seven inspectors for all of Hawaii, leading to years of inspection backlog and limited resources to travel to other islands, staff members told the newspaper.

Jennifer Shishido, an administrator for Hawaii’s Occupational Safety and Health Department, blamed "chronic" understaffing.

"We’re just not able to get there," she said.

State law requires elevators to be tested and examined annually by a state inspector.

Older elevators are given priority, along with those that serve the handicapped, hospitals, senior homes and schools. Wilcox Memorial Hospital’s 11 elevators are operating with expired permits, the newspaper reported.