Make Elevator Safety Your Priority in 2022

Make Elevator Safety Your Priority in 2022

How confident are you that your elevators are in safe hands? Are you perhaps thinking about how to make elevator safety a priority in your building this year? In this article we take a quick look at the importance of a ‘safety mindset’ when it comes to elevator maintenance, and we share our advice on how to evaluate your service provider with the help of five key questions.

For any responsible elevator service company, safety sits at the heart of the business – and that is certainly true here at Kencor, LLC.  Our top focus is, and always has been, to keep passengers as well as field staff safe in every situation.

Elevator Safety Statistics

A report from the Center for Construction Research and Training estimates that elevators cause 27 fatalities and 10,000 injuries per year in the United States. To put this into perspective, stairway accidents account for around 12,000 fatalities and 1 million injuries every year, while car traffic accidents cause over 30,000 deaths and 4,5 million injuries. But even without looking at numbers and statistics, one single elevator accident is one too many. Our target will always be to do our bit to help push that number to zero.

Make Sure You’re in Safe Hands

There is never a job so urgent that anyone should cut corners when it comes to safety procedures. Unfortunately, there will always be rogue operators out there who will take shortcuts on the job to save themselves time and money, placing both you and their own employees at risk. As a building owner or facilities manager, it’s important to evaluate your elevator service provider from an employee and passenger safety standpoint. Before signing up with an elevator maintenance or modernization partner, make sure you take some time to assess their safety culture, competencies, and procedures.

Five Elevator Safety Questions to Ask Your Service Company

• How well does the company know your specific elevator type?

  You want to make sure the technicians servicing your elevator equipment have received technical training specific to your equipment, with a good understanding of how to keep it running safely and efficiently.

• Does the company follow a safety management program?

  It’s important that the service company follows a safety management system that does not regard it as a one-and-done activity but is always assessing risk and ensuring the necessary elements are in place. Elevator safety is a never-ending journey, and service providers must be looking at constantly improving and developing their processes to minimize risk, eliminating the potential for safety incidents.

• What safety training and certifications have their teams completed?

  A dependable elevator service provider will be able to tell you exactly what training and certifications their people have received, and what that means for their understanding of elevator safety. You should expect that all people working on your elevators have the knowledge and resources needed to keep themselves and your passengers safe.

• Does the company provide continuing education, to expand both safety and technological knowledge?

  As with all knowledge, we can sometimes forget details as time goes on. You want to be assured that the technicians servicing your elevators have a fresh, solid understanding of how to do the job safely and keep your equipment in perfect working order, with the support of regular training sessions and handbooks.

• Do all field staff have required safety practices and access to a complete set of personal protective equipment (PPE)?

  An elevator technician without proper safety equipment and safety guidelines is a major red flag when it comes to the safety culture of a service provider. If an individual team member doesn’t display a responsible and safety-driven attitude, it can indicate that safety isn’t fully embedded within the company.

A Good Elevator Service Provider Talks About Safety

The elevator is an evolving technology, and the industry is always looking to improve safety for both technicians and riding passengers. A responsible service provider will have a habit of communicating various safety advancements and solutions that can help reduce liability and exposure. A company that prioritizes safety practices will raise the matter of safety on a regular basis, sharing information on how to protect people at every point of use.

Evaluate Your Service Provider Today

If you’d like to quickly quiz your service provider on their approach to safety, we’ve made it easy for you to do. Simply download our one-page safety questionnaire and send it to your elevator service company to complete.

Download the Elevator Safety Questionnaire (PDF)

Talk To Us – We Can Help

To discuss how elevator safety practices could be improved for your specific property or installation, call our friendly team at 800-220-4046 today.