How to Deal With a Lift Breakdown

Managing Lift Breakdown and 5 Prevention Measures

If you’re a building manager or owner, one of your concerns is likely to be how to deal with a lift breakdown. Whether it’s residents trying to access their property, or employees on their way to work, lift breakdown is a potentially stressful situation which needs careful and competent handling. In this article we’ll offer a procedure to use if you find yourself with a broken lift, and the Tower Lifts team provides 5 ways to minimise the risk of it happening.

How to Deal With a Lift Breakdown

The key to calm and competent management of lift breakdown is placing the lift user at the centre of your response. Here are 3 steps that we would recommend:

Step One: Keep Calm and Act Immediately

Lift breakdown requires prompt leadership. There may be passengers displaying symptoms of anxiety in the lift, and this heightened response can be contagious. What employees need to see, and passengers need to hear, is that there is a procedure that will lead them safely through this experience. And they need to know that the person in charge is competent and calm.

Call an emergency lift repair company. Ideally this will be part of your existing maintenance contract. Otherwise call a local lift repair company who can offer an immediate response.

Step Two: Communicate Regularly With Trapped Passengers

Your lift should have a working intercom, and the building manager needs to use this as quickly as possible to let them know what is happening to resolve the situation. It’s important that lift passengers understand they shouldn’t:

• Keep pressing buttons on the control panel.
• Try to escape the cabin via the trapdoor in the roof of the lift.
• Attempt to prise open the doors of the lift.

Step Three: Stop Anyone Else From Using the Lift

Emergency signs indicating that the lift is broken should be placed on every floor so that no-one attempts to use it.

How Do Emergency Lift Repairs Work?

Tower Lifts has a dedicated emergency lift repairs team that is available 24/7. We arrive promptly at the scene of the breakdown and communicate clearly with passengers as to what we are doing to free them. Our engineers are trained in managing members of the public, who may be suffering distress. We will then diagnose the problem and get the lift moving once more.

5 Ways to Avoid Lift Breakdown

Reducing the risk of lift breakdown requires a holistic approach; simply employing a maintenance company to check your lift over annually isn’t enough. Here are Tower Lifts 5 recommendations from our lift maintenance consultants:

1. Set Up a Maintenance Contract. Larger lift maintenance companies will audit your lifts, including maintenance history, function, and usage, and then make a recommendation for minimum maintenance requirements. A maintenance contract will also include emergency breakdown for peace of mind.

2. Regular Statutory Examinations. For a passenger lift to be LOLER compliant, it is required to have regular statutory examinations carried out by a ‘competent person’. These will normally take place every six months. They cannot be carried out by your maintenance company as this would potentially create a conflict of interest.

3. Frequent Inspections. Inspections can be carried out by a trained employee. They are required by LOLER and exist in order to catch any potential problems in their early stages. An inspection would normally include checks of:

• • Lighting
  • Door tracks
  • Landing push buttons
  • Noises that sound odd
  • Lift levelling
  • Door safety devices

4. Use Your Lift For Its Intended Purpose. Lifts that are used to carry more passengers than the recommended limit, or to move heavy goods, are more likely to break down. Ensure that everyone using the lift knows what is and isn’t permissible.

5. Create Responsible Users. A lift that is constantly breaking down isn’t respected by its passengers. There is, however, a need for passengers to take responsibility for using the lift correctly, and for reporting any problems that they encounter promptly.

Tower Lifts is an Experienced Lift Maintenance and Lift Breakdown Company

Tower Lifts has been providing UK-wide lift maintenance contracts since for over 16 years now. Our factory trained engineers have extensive experience with most lift models, and we are happy to carry out maintenance audits on legacy lifts. We are a ISO9001:2015 Lift Cert and UKAS approved company adhering to all current Lift Regulations.

Are you looking for a tailored lift maintenance contract? Call Tower Lifts today to find out how we can support you – 01525 601099

Look what else Tower Lifts can offer:

Bespoke Platform Lifts • Food Lifts • Passenger Lifts • Dumbwaiter Lifts • Step Lifts • Goods Lifts • Scenic Lifts  • Car Lifts  •  Low Pit Lifts  •  Service Lifts