ELEVATOR DOOR SAFETY
AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION
In light of recent tragic
and highly publicized accidents that have occurred in the U.S., the National
Elevator Industry, Inc. (NEII®) feels it is important to
reaffirm for building owners and the riding public the many measures our
industry undertakes to provide a consistently high standard of safety.
Safety is the elevator and
escalator industry's first priority. NEII and its member companies are
committed to the promotion of safe building transportation and continue to
aggressively work toward improving and ensuring adoption of stringent safety
codes, developing safer products and helping to educate the public on safe
riding practices. While no system can ever be failsafe, we strongly believe
that accidents such as these should never happen, and that it is our
responsibility – from manufacturers, owners, managers and inspectors to the
riding public – to uphold this overall commitment to safety.
The industry does have
stringent codes in place to help ensure the safety of its products, and to make
certain that machinery is maintained and inspected according to its respective
codes.
Basic protections from
elevators moving while their doors are open have in fact been in place since
the 1920s. These simple electromechanical systems became what are known as
"interlocks" in later elevator codes, and exist on virtually all elevators in
operation in the US today. To better protect the passenger from possible harm,
the 1980 ASME A17.1 Code implemented a provision that would lock the elevator
doors (door restrictors) when the car was more than 18 inches above or below
the floor.
Since the 2000 edition of
the ASME A17.1 for new elevator installations, the industry has incorporated
the latest advances in technology, making additional protection possible and
providing redundant protections against unintended elevator car movement.
Elevators installed under the 2000 and later editions of the code contain these
safety features:
- A
means to detect unintended car movement with the doors open due to a failure
in the drive machine, motor, brake, gearing, control system, hydraulic
pressure, etc. that will immediately stop the car;
- An independent, secondary emergency brake that is activated when unintended car
movement is detected;
- Application of this brake when a loss of power is detected; and
- A requirement that the emergency brake be manually reset before the car is
permitted to run again, requiring a qualified elevator mechanic to diagnose and
correct the problem before the elevator is placed back in service.
- Inspection operation with open door circuits to bypass door and gate contacts during maintenance and repairs, eliminating the need to use “jumpers” that could be inadvertently left in place after servicing the elevator. (Jumpers are used by mechanics to temporarily bypass the doors’ safety features for troubleshooting.)
For those elevators that
predate the safety features introduced in the past 20 years, the Safety Code
for Existing Elevators and Escalators, ASME A17.3 contains basic
requirements for rider safety in these older systems. These include requiring
door restrictors and prohibiting the driving machine that moves the car from
operating with passengers on the car if the elevator doors are not in a closed
position. NEII has consistently advocated the adoption of the ASME A17.3
within every jurisdiction nationally, to ensure that a designated minimum
standard of safety is met, regardless of the age, model or manufacturer of the
equipment. Unfortunately, ASME A17.3 has been adopted in few US jurisdictions
to date.
As with any
electrical/mechanical system, it is critical that elevators be inspected and
maintained on a regular basis to ensure that these safety features are
functional. The ASME A17.1 Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators prescribes
regular maintenance and periodic testing and inspection for all elevators. Of
course, their success relies on building owners that retain adequate elevator
maintenance, elevator contractors and technicians that are proficient in their
work, and jurisdictions that require qualified elevator inspectors to help
ensure the safety of the equipment. Proper preventive maintenance plays a
critical role in eliminating the potential for equipment malfunctions and
addressing any prospective difficulties.
Unfortunately, accidents can
still occur even with all of these measures and the protections contained in
our safety codes. This is why the NEII member companies remain committed
to developing new technology to further enhance passenger protection in both
new and old elevators. NEII remains a strong advocate of elevator and
escalator safety by continually improving the systems in place to help ensure
rider safety, endorsing the adoption of current model codes by local government
agencies, and assisting our national and international code-writing bodies in
the improvement of rules that affect the installation, maintenance and
operation of this equipment.
As elevator technology
continues to evolve, these safety codes also encourage the efficient and safe
adoption of the latest technical developments, resulting in elevator equipment
that remains on the leading edge of safety, innovation and reliability.
Though elevators are one of
the safest forms of transportation with over 18 billion passenger trips per
year in the United States alone, following simple guidelines can help further
improve passenger safety. It's important to not only know how to properly ride
elevators, but also what
to do if the elevator becomes stalled. We encourage everyone to
review these
guidelines regularly for more information on these topics. Please
visit the elevator and escalator safety pages on the NEII website at www.neii.org.
About NEII
National Elevator Industry
Inc. (NEII) is the premier national trade association representing the
interest of firms that install, maintain and/or manufacture elevators,
escalators, moving walks and other building transportation products, including
parts or components. NEII promotes safe building transportation for new
and existing products and technologies, and works with various organizations on
the formation, adoption and enforcement of the latest building transportation
codes and standards. NEII membership includes the major elevator
companies in the United States, if not the world. NEII offers
Regular, Trust and Individual memberships. NEII and the NEII logo
are registered trademarks of the National Elevator Industry, Inc. For more
information about NEII, please visit www.neii.org.
