EM – Entering the elevator when cabin left the floor, a woman fell into the pit leading to her death. The incident just happened at the Children’s Hospital of Can Tho City.
Talking to the press, the hospital’s leaders confirmed that there had just been an elevator accident that killed one person on July 16.
Mrs. P (victim, born in 1970, living in An Giang province) takes care of patients at the Children’s Hospital of Can Tho City, use elevator number 9, on the 6th floor of the hospital. When Mrs. P arrived, the elevator door had just closed, but she blocked the door with her hand so that the elevator door opened and entered. However, at this time, the elevator had moved from floor leveling to the upper floor, so Mrs. P fell into the elevator pit, seriously injured leading to death.
From a technical perspective, it is possible that the elevator has encountered an error (Details are analyzed in the article: Elevator landing doors and user safety). According to QCVN 02:2019/BLDTBXH, it is stated that: “During normal operation, it is not possible to open the landing door (or any door in the case of multi-panel doors), unless the cabin has stopped, or is in the stopped position within the unlocking zone of that door.” (Unlocking zone is a restricted area above and below the floor level of the landing floor, when the cabin floor is in this zone, the landing door can be opened according to the cabin door).
The fact that the victim was able to use his hand to stop the landing door opening while the elevator cabin was moved shows that the mechanical and electrical system of the elevator may have been a problem. However, this issue needs investigation and conclusions of the authorities.
However, the wrong action of the user that led to an accident for himself is something that elevator passengers can completely avoid.
To ensure occupation safety, the elevator landing door cannot be opened when there is no cabin at the landing stop position unless the technician uses a dedicated key to open it (Image when technician opens the landing door for maintenance)
Elevators are considered as one of the safest means of transportation, the probability of an accident is 1 in 7,000,000. But when an accident occurs, it is usually very serious. Experts of Vietnam Institution of Lift Engineering Application (VILEA) give some warnings:
– Focus and be careful in using the elevator. Elevator users need to be seriously aware of using elevators as a means of transportation as normal traffic. Avoid being distracted, using the phone or busy chatting, etc. when using the elevator.
– Pay attention to observe: entrances, elevator doors, signal lights, etc. to avoid technical problems that may suddenly occur and promptly handle them.
– Make sure that the landing door is open and the cabin is on the floor level before stepping inside the car.
– If you want to open the elevator door when the door is closed, only press the lift open button on the control panel once, do not hold it for too long and do not use your hands / feet / other objects to hold the landing door / cabin door when the door is closed again. Although elevator doors are usually equipped with infrared light curtain (photocell – point or curtain) or safety bar (safety shoe) or a combination of both, however, the occurrence of technical errors is still possible.
– Instruct and remind others, especially children, when using the elevator to avoid being vandalised by young children (jumping vigorously, pressing buttons on the control panel wildly, using hands/feet/obstacles to hold the door) which may cause elevator failure.
– Learn about the operation of the elevator and the notes during use, how to handle when the elevator has problems.
Readers can find out more information about common elevator problems at: 8 elevator problems users should pay attention to
