The PALEA/VNEA Lift and Escalator Seminar was organized by the Pacific Asia Lift and Escalator Association (PALEA) and the Vietnam Elevator Association (VNEA) on the morning of October 5 in Hanoi. It is the first time a Vietnamese representative, the VNEA, has come forward and hosted an international seminar on the elevator industry.

The seminar program consists of 6 presentations and studies presented by speakers are experts, leaders from safety agencies, and domestic and international elevator associations such as VNEA, PALEA, the Korea Elevator Safety Agency, the Lift and Escalator Contractors Association (LECA), CEN Technical Committee 10 (CEN/TC 10),…

The main focus of the PALEA/VNEA seminar is on the issues of developing safety codes and standards and analyzing the urgent problems of the regional and international elevator industry.

Opening the conference was the presentation “Regulations, Standards of Lifts in Vietnam and Initiatives” presented by Mr. Nguyen Duc Hanh – Director of the Vietnam Institute of Lift Engineering Application.

In his presentation, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hanh gave overall information about the National Technical Regulations (QCVN) and Technical Standards (TCVN) related to the elevator field and pointed out current shortcomings.

The Director of VILEA presented at the PALEA/VNEA Lift and Escalator Seminar.

“Currently, QCVN and TCVN related to elevators are focusing on safety requirements in terms of design and installation, which are the stages before the elevator is in use. However, there are “no” or “yes but incomplete” safety standards on lift operation and usage”, the Director of VILEA commented.

Facing the urgent requirements of the industry, VNEA has taken the initiative in planning and delegating VILEA to develop industry-based standards – TCCS/VILEA focused on addressing general safety issues in the elevator operation and using process.

In addition to the presentation on the development of Vietnam elevator industry standards, Mr. Eric Darmenia – Secretary of PALEA also presented his research on “Maintenance and Modernization of Existing Lifts and Escalators”.

Mr. Eric Darmenia presented at the seminar.

According to Mr. Eric Darmenia, as technology and knowledge improves lift and escalator design, codes change to keep pace, and new safety measures and features are introduced to ensure the highest level of safety for users, service providers, and inspectors.

“Old lifts need also to be included in the upgrade of safety features”, he added.

His presentation also looked at regulations and ways that old lifts can be brought up to modern-day safety standards and safety improvements as a result.

This is also an issue mentioned by the Hong Kong Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) and the Hong Kong Lift and Escalator Contractors Association (LECA) in their presentations.

Through their presentations, these two agencies also introduced their initiatives in developing a Digital Logbook. It is a digital logbook program that has been developed to take advantage of new digital technologies for safety and efficiency.

The representatives of EMSD and LECA presented at the seminar.

The issue of harmonizing international elevator standards is also addressed by Esfandiar Gharibaan – Chairman of the CEN/TC 10 in the presentation “Global Codes and Standards, CEN/ISO activities for Harmonization”.

The Chairman of CEN/TC 10 gave a general overview of current and future Global code activities and an update on ISO 8100, in cooperation with ISO/ CEN, regional and national code bodies.

The harmonization of CEN and ISO codes and the tremendous work done by CEN/ TC 10, focus on equivalent safety and quality on a worldwide basis which supports Global Trade Barrier Free Technology “GTBFT”.

The overall objective is to improve the safety of the elevator industry; and to harmonize the global elevator standards and standards towards “Global Trade Barrier Free Technology”, promoting the success of sustainable development and unlocking green growth for the elevator industry.

The representatives of many Vietnam elevator enterprises, such as Pacific, Hisa, TK Elevator, ALPEC, Tan Lap, iTek, Mekamic, and Van Su Loi,… were invited.
Besides domestic elevator enterprises, the seminar also had the participation of representatives of foreign elevator enterprises in Vietnam: Schindler Vietnam, KONE Vietnam, Hitachi Vietnam, Mitsubishi Vietnam, and Otis Vietnam…