Escalator mishaps highlight need for regular safety checks - The Borneo Post Online
Borneo Post Online, 13 March 2017
File photo shows the safety signage on one side of an escalator at a shopping mall in Sibu.
SIBU: There is a pressing need for the management of buildings such as shopping malls to conduct regular audits and safety checks on all the escalators at their premises, in view of a number of incidents reported over the past several months.
In making this call yesterday, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye stressed that the onus fell on the management of these buildings to ensure that the escalators would be safe for usage at all times, especially during weekends or school holidays when there would be higher volume of people.
He cited the figure given by Department of Occupational Safety and Health Malaysia (Dosh) director-general Datuk Mohtar Musri in June last year, stating that there were 11,600 escalators registered nationwide and of the total, about 10 per cent were lying idle.
The department also received 31 accident cases caused by escalators between 2011 and May 2015.
“Niosh is concerned about the people’s safety after several mishaps involving moving staircases over the past months. Last Sunday, a 20-year-old female student injured her leg after she was involved in a mishap on an escalator at Sunway Pyramid, while last Wednesday, a 38-year-old woman fractured her toes when her foot was caught in a ‘travelator’ at a shopping mall in Subang Jaya.
“These two cases highlight the issue of safety in the use of escalators involving the public, especially young children. Niosh hopes that mall operators would also engage architects to design more safety features for escalators to prevent mishaps that could cause injuries or death,” Lee said in a statement yesterday.
It is also reported that in 2014, Dosh found 2,747 escalators and lifts in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya that had failed to meet safety standards.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act (OSHA) 1994, it is the responsibility of employers or building owners to ensure that the escalators are in safe working conditions. They must also display proper signage on safety and remind the people to be cautious during the maintenance works on escalators.
“I hope that shopping complexes could also make announcements via their public address system to remind the public on the safe use of escalators, travelators and lifts,” Lee said, stressing that all repair works must be undertaken by competent firms and engineers endorsed by Dosh, in that every escalator must be certified ‘Fit For Use’ by the department.
“Apart from building owners, parents are also advised to accompany their children at all times when in shopping complexes,” he emphasised.
Those using the escalator should take precautionary measures including making sure that their shoelaces are securely tied and wearing appropriate shoes.
“Escalators are said to be among the safest forms of transportation, but accidents can occur due to unsafe practices and lackadaisical attitude such as using smartphones while on the moving staircase,” Lee said.
“We will continue to hear such incidents if all parties refuse to change their attitude for the better and take proactive measures to prevent such mishaps,”.
