In the eyes of children, escalators look like fun playgrounds that appear unexpectedly in boring shopping centers or subways.
The curiosity of children, combined with the increasingly common distraction of parents, leads to painful accidents and heavy feelings of guilt that could have been avoided with a minimum of prevention.
Even if escalators are increasingly widespread and used in every area of public and private transport, the perception of their potential danger, when common safety rules are not respected, is widely underestimated.
Yet, if we analyze the most recent statistics on user accidents, we discover that the little ones are unfortunately involved in numerous accidents, including fatal ones.
In addition to adult supervision, there are some devices that reduce the risk of children’ accidents.
It is therefore essential to ensure that the escalator is properly maintained that all safety devices are correctly installed and that, where they are installed, they are fully functional.
For example, it is essential to ensure that there are no more than two consecutive broken teeth in the combs and that, if it is possible to access the external side of the balustrade, the installation of an anti-climb barrier is foreseen.
This is particularly important for the entire installations park, as it could happen that, for very dated escalators, the legislation in force at the time of installation didn’t foresee some protective guards and safety devices that have been introduced later.
#SMI can make a difference in helping elevator companies to reduce the product responsibility of their customers by providing and maintaining updated and safe installations even for the little ones.
Escalator user accidents Report
Anti-climb barrier data sheet
Anti-climb barrier
Handrail inlet and handrail inlet switch – Data sheet
Split door arrangement
Areas of the combs