Elevate & Escalate  


 

RELATIVE DANGERS OF ELEVATORS AND ESCALATORS

For various reasons, including Hollywood dramatizations, people fear elevators. These same people have no idea of the dangers posed by escalators, especially to small children and the elderly.

Elevators and escalators play different roles in public transportation. Elevators move a few people at a time to different levels, many floors up or down. Escalators move many people at a time to just one nearby floor. One escalator moves far more people per hour than one elevator.

There are 20 times more elevators in the country that escalators and yet approximately the same number of accidents per year.

Of the approximately 33,000 escalators in the US, the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that 7000 accidents occurred in one recent year requiring hospitalization; or one accident per every five escalators each year. Escalators are many times more dangerous to the public than elevators and people need to know this.

By way of background, the escalator steps are moving at 90 to 125 feet per minute (18 inches per second) relative to the stationary sides! The modern escalator is the only machine in America where the untrained and unsuspecting public is allowed to routinely come within inches of high speed moving metal parts.
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Ecodream^s "Elevate & Escalate" is a local project that we will continue to expand globally to to alert you to the dangers of escalators. The little girl^s missing finger will be a reminder that this could be your child. Escalators are in many public buildings in the US and worldwide where masses of people must move up or down quickly such as stadiums, malls, theaters and transit stations.

Escalator Injuries Common among Children

Escalator injuries among children are becoming more prevalent according to a study published in the August issue of Pediatrics.

The study found that from 1990 through 2002, there were an estimated 26,000 escalator injuries among children. Those injuries included amputations, which was highest for children younger than five. More than half of the injured children are boys. Twelve thousand of those injuries occurred in children younger than five years of age. About two-thirds were caused by falls, and about 10% were from entrapment.

The authors identified certain design changes that made the escalators safer, including narrowing the space between the moving stairs and the stairway wall. While this design change provided added protection against personal injury cases for children, the authors emphasized the fact that parental and caregiver supervision was essential, especially when transporting children in strollers while riding escalators.

The US Product Safety Commission has issued recommendations to help prevent escalator-related injuries, which include:

Removal of drawstrings from children^s clothing

Supervision of young children while using an escalator;

Holding the child^s hand or picking up the child when riding on the escalator;

Not transporting children on the escalator in a stroller or cart;

Facing forward and holding onto handrails to avoid falls;

Avoiding the sides of escalator steps to prevent entrapment between the escalator step and the sidewall.

More stories

Source: McGeehan J et al "Escalator-Related Injuries Among Children in the United States, 1990-2002" Pediatrics 2006; 118: e1-e6

Barry Rooth

The accident happened in the Savacentre in Colliers Wood, south-west London. Stevie’s mother had her back turned to him as she talked on the phone. The child got between the escalators and his clothes got caught, which caused him to get twisted round backwards that his head leveled with his ankles. The impact was so great it left the child unconscious and purple due to the bursting of the blood vessel under his skin. His father, who was waiting at the center’s parking area, immediately took Stevie to the nearest hospital which was less than a mile away. Doctors say it would take months for the child to regain his normal color.

Stevie’s father is blaming the center for the accident and plans to take legal action for this. He said there were no security barriers to prevent the incident from happening.

MB Real Estate, an arm of MB Trust which is responsible for the operation of the center’s walkways, has expressed sympathy to the family and confirmed they are making plans of action to prevent such accidents from happening again.

Preety Acharya / DNA  

A one-and-a-half-year-old girl tumbled down an escalator at the Oberoi Mall, Malad (East), and died on Monday evening. Angahi Patni had visited the mall along with her family members for New Year’s shopping. The incident occurred at around 6:30pm.

She was rushed to the nearby Lifeline Hospital by mall employees and her family members but was declared dead on arrival.

The police said that the girl lost her balance and fell after her grandfather Hasmukh Patni, 62, whose hand she was holding, tripped, causing him to loosen his grip; Patni escaped injury. Her father, Ashish, a stock broker, and other family members were present at the spot. Hasmukh and the girl were on the way up to the first floor. The police have registered a case of accidental death.