How to Deal With a Lift Breakdown

Handling a Lift Emergency – A Step-by-Step Guide

If you’ve ever experienced a lift juddering to a halt between floors, you’ll know that it causes varying degrees of concern for everyone in the lift car. Passengers experience uncertainty and a potential panic at their confinement. While the building managers or staff may find themselves responsible and yet unsure how to deal with a lift breakdown.

This guide to managing a lift breakdown acknowledges that anxiety. Having a clear plan of what should happen next is fundamental for maintaining calm, ensuring passenger safety, and managing the breakdown efficiently right from the start.

As established lift services providers for over ten years, Tower Lifts offers comprehensive lift solutions, backed by round-the-clock support for unexpected breakdowns. We know from experience how important a clear plan is during an emergency. You can trust, therefore, in our experience as we walk you through the 5 essential steps for dealing with the situation safely and efficiently.

What to Do First – 5 Steps for Handling a Lift Breakdown

If a lift breaks down in your building, taking the right actions immediately ensures the safety and minimises distress of any passengers confined within the lift.

Here are the first 5 steps Tower Lifts advises:

  1. Check That Passengers Are Safe – Your first priority is to find out if there is anyone in the lift car. Try the lift’s internal communication system first. If there’s no response, call out near the doors. Passenger safety is always the most important thing to bear in mind.
  2. Inform Trapped Passengers – If there are people in the lift, speak to reassure them. Let them know help is being arranged, and that professional engineers are on their way. The advice should always be to stay put and wait. Under no circumstances should anyone try to force the doors open.
  3. Identify Lift Details & Location – Make a note of the lift number or name, its last known position (or where the alarm was raised), and any reported sounds or unusual symptoms before it stopped. Every detail helps the engineer to make repairs more quickly.
  4. Initiate the Emergency Call-Out – Call your emergency breakdown company right away using their dedicated emergency number. For Tower Lifts clients, our 24/7 emergency breakdown line connects you straight to our response team. Pass on all the details you have.
  5. Clear Access & Communicate Updates – While you wait for the engineer, make sure the landing areas around the lift are clear. Keep the confined passengers updated on the engineer’s ETA to help keep anxiety at bay.

Prepared for Lift Breakdowns? The Value of Emergency Cover

Handling a lift failure is far less stressful if you have an emergency breakdown provider as part of your regular lift maintenance plan. You have a dedicated contact number, a provider who understands your vertical transport equipment, and a clear process for getting help quickly.

The alternative scenario – having no pre-arranged cover – often involves a frantic search for a reputable emergency repair service during a high-pressure situation, potentially leading to delays and unforeseen expenses.

Prepared for Lift Breakdowns? The Value of Emergency Cover

Tower Lifts helps buildings stay prepared. We offer tailored preventative maintenance contracts that incorporate reliable 24/7 emergency breakdown cover, ensuring support is readily available when you need it most.

Be Prepared – Simple Checks to Improve Lift Safety and Preparedness

Rather than simply hoping your lift continues to run smoothly, you can take steps to ensure that an emergency finds you prepared and ready for action. The following suggestions can reduce issues and minimise disruption:

  • Give Clear Passenger Guidance – Make sure that there’s clear signage inside the lift letting passengers know what to do if a breakdown happens? These instructions provide reassurance and guidance during a stressful time.
  • Monitor Day-to-Day Functionality – Pay attention to how the lift operates daily. Note any strange sounds, vibrations, or issues with the doors opening/closing or the lift levelling accurately at floors. Reporting these early allows for preventative maintenance before a failure occurs.
  • Emergency Communication & Lighting Checks – Test regularly that the emergency alarm or call button connects correctly and that the backup lighting inside the car comes on when needed.
  • Educate on Proper Use and Limits – Make sure that lift users know and adhere to the specified weight limits. Consistent overloading or misuse can lead to damage and increase the chance of breakdown.

Ensuring Your Peace of Mind – Lift Maintenance & Support

Dealing with a lift breakdown needn’t be a source of major stress or disruption. By putting clear procedures in place, scheduling preventative maintenance, and having dependable emergency cover in place, you’re prioritising the safety of the passengers and operational flow.

As a trusted lift services provider Tower Lifts is provides this assurance. Our extensive experience, dedication to the highest safety standards (reflected in credentials like LiftCert, SafeContractor, and CHAS), ensures we deliver solutions precisely fitted to your needs with minimal fuss.

Take the next step towards worry-free lift operation. Contact the friendly Tower Lifts team today on 01525 601099 to discuss a maintenance and emergency breakdown plan tailored for you.

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