Colombia. Much has been said about what a person should do when trapped in an elevator, but how should those responsible for the safety and maintenance of these systems in shopping centers, buildings and residential complexes act?
In this regard, Mónica Mengual, Head of Customer Service at Estilo Ingeniería, one of the leading companies in vertical transport, commented: "We must understand that emergencies in elevators have different protocols. There is one for when there are people trapped and another if there are none. The first thing to do is to notify the elevator company through the emergency line to send qualified personnel to attend to the eventuality.
There are situations in which the administration chooses a staff which can be trained in safe evacuation, however it is recommended that if the event requires maneuvers or technical procedures, the service of the vertical transport expert is always expected. "
Engineering Style, informs the most important steps that must be taken into account to address a situation of this type:
1. When detecting that there are people trapped in the equipment, the personnel who are attending to the situation must inform them that the structure is designed so that the oxygen does not run out, and therefore they should not be alarmed or try to leave by their own means because they could be injured.
2. The first contact with those affected must inform the emergency line of the company that provides the maintenance service so that they send a qualified professional to attend the emergency with the care and tools that the situation deserves.
3. The administrative or responsible staff must indicate the exact place where the equipment is located: name of the building, address, contact telephone number, tower or area of the inconvenience and, if possible, the number of affected.
4. Constant monitoring of the situation must be carried out through the elevator communication system or through video surveillance.
5. The personnel of the building, shopping center or residential complex must accompany the expert (s) of the company that is carrying out the evacuation.
Do not forget to request the copy of the Emergency Report submitted which must be duly completed by the technician who performed the evacuation. It must be remembered that it is important that the administration has this. The Head of Customer Service of Estilo Ingeniería stressed that maintenance must be constant to verify that the system of vertical transport equipment is in optimal operating conditions and thus predict possible failures.
"Team leaders must validate that the communication system, either by cytophone or buttons, is always in operation. This will be the means by which an emergency can be announced, since sometimes cell phones run out of signal in these infrastructures. In addition, it is imperative that they have video surveillance systems, since in case the cytophone does not work, this will be another means by which it can be identified that there are people trapped, "said Mengual.
In many cases, equipment failures are due to misuse by users, allowing, for example, children to play with button systems, which ends up affecting their performance. When there is bad behavior of users, it is necessary to install signage that reminds them of things that are prohibited because they can cause an eventuality that puts their lives at risk.
There are different situations that arise with an elevator that must be attended only by technicians, such as arrests between floors. "A very common one is to drop objects in the floor slot, usually keys to houses or vehicles, in those cases the Engineering Style staff must go to block the equipment and go down to the well to collect the element. Administrators must understand that no matter how small the object is, it must be removed because in the future it can harm the proper functioning of the system, the fozos must be totally clean of foreign bodies, "said Mónica Mengual.
Those in charge of the different properties must ensure that the company with which they contract vertical transport services, such as elevators, must have a 24/7 emergency line, in addition to technicians in different areas of the city, have the ability to perform preventive maintenance and comply with the rules required by law.
