Elevator Safety Issues with Advice for Building Owners

 The Elevator Consultants (TEC,) a leading global elevator consulting firm, has issued a call to building owners in the wake of dozens of elevator and escalator-related incidents in recent years, to take a hard look at the maintenance of their equipment and take action to mitigate their own risk.

Elevators and other vertical transportation equipment are an often-overlooked asset in a building that, if not properly managed, can become an expensive liability. The fact is, many American buildings are at an age where their infrastructures are beginning to deteriorate, and many countries around the world are dealing with this issue for the second and third times due to the age of their buildings. This has led to what can only be called an epidemic of elevator safety issues in the last several years.

According to the Center for Construction Research and Training (CWPR), about 25,000 people in the general public were treated at hospitals due to elevator- or escalator-related injuries in 2017, and the number jumped by 30 percent in the last decade. From 2011 to 2016, elevator-related incidents caused 145 deaths and 2,410 severe injuries among construction workers. (The actual numbers are unknown since there is no governance for reporting elevator incidents.)

TEC sees this epidemic as a result of not just aging infrastructure, but also of elevator companies not performing regular maintenance. Often, elevators only receive break-fix or callback maintenance, when something goes wrong, rather than the preventative maintenance that would help catch safety concerns or maintenance items before they become incidents or costly repairs. Further, building owners are usually left in the dark about how their own equipment is being maintained due to incomplete or non-existent records.

TEC recommends that building owners empower themselves with insight about their elevators, escalators and lifts by implementing elevator monitoring software that will track maintenance received in detail. By using a commercial real estate technology solution like TEC’s Elevator App, elevator monitoring software, building owners can ensure that they are getting the monthly and yearly maintenance they paid the elevator service provider for, extend the life and operability of the equipment, and mitigate the risk of safety incidents.

To find out how The Elevator Consultants and the Elevator App can help you protect your investment, visit www.theelevatorconsultant.com.