If you own or use a platform lift within your premise to allow persons with impaired mobility access or are responsible for or carry out maintenance of said equipment, then this information is aimed at you.
Platform lifts (vertical lifting platforms), like traditional passenger lifts, provide access between floors. They are hydraulically, or electrically powered and usually operate over two to three floors. They are normally operated by hold to run buttons and are slower than a conventional passenger lift. A door at each landing stops persons gaining access to the lift well, which should not open unless the platform is at that landing.
However, during the investigative process regarding incidents where members of the public / workers have fallen into open lift wells or even become trapped beneath a descending platform HSE have gathered evidence of tampering and “inappropriate maintenance” to door switches or unlocking zone bypass switches, leading to doors at landings being able to be opened when the platform is not at that landing. This has subsequently allowed people access to the lift well when the lifting platform was not at the same landing, putting them at significant risk of falling from height or being crushed.
Three specific incidents concerning the use of Nami-lift 400 platform lifts installed between September 1999 and December 2006 raised particular concern as these lifts incorporate Bowden cables (a flexible cable used to transmit mechanical force or energy by the movement of an inner cable relative to a hollow outer cable housing) to control the door locks, which are more susceptible to incorrect adjustment. It was also identified that wear or inappropriate maintenance can lead to:
Lift maintenance companies should:
Owners and operators of vertical lifting platforms should: