Make Elevator Safety Your Priority

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

Elevator safety statistics

A 2013 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 the safety procedures. Unfortunately, there will always be rogue operators out there who will take unnecessary risks on the job to save themselves some time and money. As a building owner or facilities manager, it’s important to evaluate your elevator service provider from a safety standpoint. Before signing up with an elevator maintenance or modernization partner, make sure you take some time to assess their safety 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 thorough training on it and has 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 model of safety management that does not regard it as a one-and-done activity. Elevator safety is a never-ending journey, and they should be looking at constantly improving and developing their processes for minimizing risk and 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 their people have received, which certifications they have, and what that means for their understanding of elevator safety. You should expect that all people working on your elevators have all the knowledge and resources they need to keep themselves and your passengers safe.
  
• How often do their teams refresh their elevator safety training?
  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 access to a complete set of personal protective equipment?
  An elevator technician without proper safety equipment is a major red flag when it comes to safety awareness. 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.

Ask for references

When you assess different elevator service partners, always take the opportunity to examine references and speak to other customers that are serviced by them before committing to anyone. Speaking to an existing customer will help you get a clear view of how the company approaches elevator safety.

Here at Unitec, we have access to a rigorous training program that certifies all our technicians to carry out work in a safe, responsible way. Our objective is to not just educate but develop an organization-wide safety mindset that is ingrained in everything we do. This is just one of the things that set us apart – but it’s one that we’re particularly proud of.