As the summer begins to settle in for 2011, I can’t help but flash back to last year, when brownouts and heat surges were the bane of many elevator riders, who were stalled out more than a few times all over the world. One of the major issues is not only power outages, but also that the majority of elevators are up to current standards, even though they may be decades old. For these reasons, many places are looking to replace entire elevator systems, not only for a better transportation network, but also to stop people getting trapped.

For instance, a recent story in the Contra Costa Times cites a recent decision by a local county to add a whole new elevator system, due in part to the number of people getting stuck:

“County Internal Services Director Tom Tindall said the hall’s 11 elevators have been in operation for more than 50 years and are due for replacement, even though they meet current code requirements. He said the county’s Chief Executive Office has identified $3.2 million in “extraordinary maintenance funding” to modernize the elevators. If the Board of Supervisors signs off on the project, the upgrades could be completed in 20 months.”

When pitching officials on the proposed project, there were a number of examples used to show the need for brand new elevators. According to the article, one supervisor recalled an instance when one of his staffers was actually stuck in an elevator cabin for over an hour at the top of the government building. This type of problem wasn’t atypical at the Hall of Administration:

“Two cashiers with the Treasure and Tax Collector’s Office said they were terrified when an elevator that was supposed to take them to a higher floor descended erratically into the basement instead, lurching the entire time.”

Elevator accidents are not a very common event, especially considering all of the safety measures that are part and parcel of a proper elevator installation. Between emergency breaking systems and measures that stop the door from opening when there isn’t a life there or when the cab is moving, it seems like accidents involving elevators should never happen. However, as with anything else, there are sometimes incidents due to a number of reasons including system failures and other mechanical anomalies.

Last month, an elevator accident occurred at a Winnipeg school which injured two adults. Surprisingly, an investigation has shown that the accident was not simply caused by a mechanical problem, but from an improper installation. According to the Winnipeg Free Press:

“A spokesman for the office said Wednesday its investigation found a failure to weld certain parts of the lift’s hydraulic cylinder contributed to the incident.

“In this one case, it appears that it was not welded,” the spokesman said.

The investigation into the late April incident at Children of the Earth High School on Salter Street is continuing. No charges or fines have been levied. The fire commissioner’s office has not released the name of the company that installed the elevator.”

The article explains how this type of elevator was supposed to be installed – with “two strategically placed welds” on the elevator’s lifting collar. However, the only thing holding this collar in place were set screws. The Office of the Fire Commissioner is the authority when it comes to inspection and has inspected 40 other access lifts with the same design registered in the same area.

The school is not currently adding any extra information to the story, even though the district has banned its schools from using similar access lifts until they are all inspected again.

I’m a total broken record about how useful elevators are for handicapped people in this blog. It’s not a secret – elevators can get elderly and otherwise immobile people up and down in buildings that have a few stories or more. They allow complete movement from the top to bottom of houses and other residential buildings. But commercial elevators are also useful in buildings with hundreds of floors when climbing stairs is simply not a good option for people going to work.

For some people, elevators may be a hindrance more than a help, no matter how surprising you may find that. When you combine the heights that are being travelled with the enclosed space of the elevator, some people find themselves petrified to ride in any kind of lift. These people experience a type of elevator phobia that elevates (pun intended!) levels of heart rate and anxiety. An article from ABC News has a list of some tips for those who find elevators to be a frightening type of transportation. Here are some of the best ones:

Carry a book of crossword puzzles you can take out when you need to.

Snap a rubber band on your wrist.

Put your keys in your pocket and try to distinguish which is which by feel.

Have some coins in your pocket and try to distinguish which is which by feel.

Pop some strong mints or sour candy in your mouth.

Circle all the five-letter words on a newspaper or magazine page.

Make lists: ordinary tasks, people to catch up with, life goals, etc.

Play a memory game by recalling telephone numbers you call often.

Carry a prickly hair curler and squeeze it in your hand.

Choose a word and see how many other words you can think of that are related to it.

Read. If necessary, take your newspaper, magazine or book and try to read it upside down.

Don’t be afraid of elevators if you can help it – they are extremely helpful and convenient in our daily lives!

I don’t have to take elevators as often as many people do. My office doesn’t have a lift and my home isn’t tall enough to require even a stairlift. Nonetheless, when I do take elevators, it seems that they get faster and faster as the years go on. This isn’t surprising, seeing as people always want to get where they’re going faster than they are getting there. Also, by moving faster, elevators can clear out passengers at a quicker click, making room for more people. So why would a new building a New York City purposely put in a slow elevator?

According to a story from The Mail Online, one apartment building named Melody, is helping tenants with weight problems lose those pounds:

“Residents don’t have to be obese in order to buy an apartment within the building but every element has been painstakingly designed to combat the nation-wide problem. The building has south-facing backyard full of brightly-coloured exercise equipment for adults and climbing frames for children. Inside the first-floor boasts a gym with four tall windows to allow the sun to stream in. It also contains a children’s fitness and climbing wall area where they too ‘can work out’.”

To be honest with you, having this type of building might be a boon to people trying to become healthier. The slow moving elevator is in place almost as a means to cause riders to give up waiting to get to their floor – instead they will take the stairs and get some exercise. The story even talks about the interesting music played in the elevator:

“As well as being slow the elevator also doesn’t play traditional ‘elevator music,’ in fact it doesn’t play any music at all. Instead jazz is pumped out of speakers on the two flights of stairs, which have lime-green railings and small silhouettes of dancing women on the walls. There is also a sign next to the elevator and door to the stairs which reads: ‘A person’s health can be judged by which they take two of at a time, pills or stairs.’”

Goodbye fast elevators…hello stairs.

Elevator safety should always be a major concern when considering the daily usage and management of lifts in any type of building, including residential and commercial properties. The summer is a very difficult time to oversee the running of elevator systems – this is due to the number of power outages that may stall out lifts with people inside. So as the season of brownouts gets closer, it is imperative that elevator inspections go off without a hitch.

However, just as I wrote a few weeks ago about the importance of thorough elevator inspections by authorized and certified individuals, a story comes out of New York that is disheartening and a bit frightening. According to the NY Daily News, city inspectors are beginning to admit that the inspection system is failing and that many reports are faked:

“Nearly three years after a 5-year-old died trying to escape a stalled housing project elevator, whistle-blowing city inspectors say they’re being told to fake reports and take safety shortcuts. The city Housing Authority vowed to get on top of elevator safety after Jacob Neuman fell 10 stories to his death in August 2008 trying to squeeze out of a stuck lift at a Brooklyn project. Years later, six inspectors have come forward to say the system remains unsafe because bosses pressure them to close inspections without doing a thorough job.”

The stress being put on inspectors has caused them to blow the whistle on a system that is obviously run by bureaucratic ends and not on the safety that is so crucial to elevator operation. The article continues on, saying that many inspectors are not comfortable with the situation, which puts them in a precarious situation:

“The safety issues have consequences. Officials say a malfunctioning zone lock, which prevents cab doors from opening in stalled elevators, triggered Jacob’s death. That tragedy prompted a rash of probes, including one by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer that found a “culture of neglect” in NYCHA elevator inspection and maintenance.”

If you have a commercial elevator that you oversee, make sure that the inspections are complete by informing yourself about the mechanisms and rules of elevator operation. This is the best way to ensure that your elevator users are as safe as can be.