Maintenance: Real Costs, Inspections and Safety

The recent tragic and completely avoidable death of a toddler by falling from an upper escalator landing should serve as an example of how we look at safety and safety inspections. This apparently occurred because a guard-piece was not sufficient, did not meet code for size, and the youth was able to pass through the outer deck area of an escalator and fall to the floor below. I have not personally visited the site to take measurements. News reports and inter-industry data have reported the incident.

News reports state that the escalator was inspected in the weeks preceding the incident and that the guard was not cited as insufficient by state inspectors who performed the onsite inspection. Two inspectors were indentified and removed from inspection duties while the investigation continues. In my heart, I do not believe either inspector, their bosses or the escalator's owners would do anything knowingly and intentionally to cause harm. I do believe somewhere our system of laws and rules has failed from human error.

The questions:

1. When the inspection of the escalator took place, how thorough was the inspection?

2. Was the guard/barricade proper during the last inspection and replaced afterward due to breakage?

3. Who installed the guard/barricade?

4. Was a licensed escalator mechanic involved in the guard/barricade replacement?

I will state upfront that I am not a fan of big government or the need to have law upon redundant law for every situation. So after careful debate and looking at all aspects of adding a law, we add it, and when we do have a law, rule or code in-place that is deemed for the public good, how about enforcing that?

Escalator and elevator use has become so commonplace and used safely by the public many thousands times a day, most become unaware of the safety issues involved in operating that equipment. When these transportation devices were newly introduced, (and I wasn't around yet so I base this opinion on what I've read and studied) they were viewed as a novelty and attention was paid to the details of using these unique means of vertical transportation. After all, they were introduced mostly at fairs as attractions and rides.

Since then, we in the industry have gotten pretty good at developing and installing safe products. As a company, when we consult and provide instruction on repairs, maintenance, and upgrades to equipment owners, our motto is: "a passenger should be able to ride the unit and later not have any recollection about that trip". This means that nothing notable happened when using the escalator or elevator. I stress that "this ain't a amusement park where people pay for the thrill of a ride".

Inspectors and Safety Inspections

States vary in their approach to safety inspections: some have state-employed inspectors, while others have replaced state inspectors with licensed third-party inspectors. Others have a few state inspectors overseeing the third-party inspectors. Interesting is that according to some industry data, incidents have increased where third-party inspections have become the method of choice.

When equipment owners pay for inspections or allow their elevator contractor to hire the third-party inspector for them, are they getting a "deal" by having an inspector that is not as strict as another? It is well-known, but mostly not talked about, among elevator/escalator mechanics, supervisors and building owners that there are some inspectors more selective or lenient in listing violations than others. How about the end cost?

Many inspectors have personal histories with the elevator company doing the work: they may be or have been coworkers, buddies, and relatives. That does not mean the inspector may be biased either positively or negatively just because they used to work with the mechanics doing the work, but any sense of that relationship has to be put aside and a fair and unbiased inspection performed.

During a recent newspaper interview, I stressed the fact that how many units did the inspectors have to look at during the day, week, month or year? For me to do a complete escalator inspection with qualified mechanics, including Performance Index testing, can take 3 to 4 hours depending on conditions. I allow small repairs and corrections to be made during the inspection, so the time can go far beyond the minimum. So maybe we can do 2 thorough escalator inspections in an 8-hour day, including paperwork. Most inspectors will have to plan any travel to the site in that workday as well.

Integrity is the key.

- Joe