Jon Stannah, Joint Managing Director of Stannah Lift Services, shares lift expertise to benefit building owners and operators.
Regular maintenance and sound advice
Lifts, as with all machinery, require regular servicing. Preventative maintenance will help to keep your lift in optimum condition, leading to fewer breakdowns, more reliable equipment, and in the medium to long term, lower running costs.
A reliable lift service provider will keep you well informed of the condition of all your lift stock and will keep you up to date on changing legislation that may affect the ongoing operation of your lifts.
If you own or occupy premises in which there is a lift, you and/or your company is responsible, under The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, for maintaining your lift in good and safe working order. If your lift is in a workplace you also have an obligation to have your lift thoroughly examined regularly by a competent person, who will inspect the lift with a view to safety and should advise you of any defects.
Frequency of servicing equipment
Our engineers answer many questions, but probably the most frequent question asked is how often should I have my lift serviced? There is no right answer to this question. The frequency is dependent on the type of lift you operate, its travel, its load and the frequency of journeys made. For instance, we service thousands of small goods lifts or dumbwaiters, typically used in pubs, hotels and restaurants. You may think these small service lifts need little attention but these workhorses are relied on all day, every day so need frequent attention. We know our catering customers rely heavily on their food lifts. However the same business may operate a platform lift for the benefit of disabled customers. Although a larger, more complicated lift the equipment may be used infrequently so servicing may be less frequent.
Trapped in a lift
This is another topic frequently raised by lift owners: what to do if someone is trapped in a lift? Firstly the person in the lift should be able to attract attention by using the alarm within the lift car, so your emergency call-out service provider is alerted. Passenger lifts installed since 1999 will have a telephone facility within the lift car too. As part of your workplace risk assessment you should consider the need for Passenger Release Training. Your service provider can help you with this.
Updating lift equipment
Regular maintenance will keep your lift operating, but in time it may be necessary to think about a partial or complete modernisation. This decision might be made to:
Improve the performance and traffic flow
Improve the reliability and therefore lower running costs
Reduce energy consumption and so lower ongoing running costs
Comply with new legislation
Add value to your building
At Stannah our lift engineers carry out hundreds of lift refurbishments each year, many of them simply replacing old parts and technology with new. It is important to assess your equipment so that refurbishment projects can be planned with your service provider and together you can choose the downtime of your equipment, and when appropriate, consider how you can provide alternative means of access for your building users.
Choosing a lift service provider
It is important to choose carefully. Ideally you need to know your engineers are based locally to your premises so that they can always be called on should you need them between planned visits. They should be able to maintain all your lift equipment, from all manufacturers. They should be familiar with all the latest legislation and keep you, as a lift owner, up to date with your responsibilities. Their service should be available 24/7, 365 days a year. They should be able to demonstrate their commitment to quality management via ISO 9001, environmental responsibility via ISO 14001 and occupational health and safety management best practice via ISO 18001. In additional to these three quality certifications Stannah has been recognised with six consecutive RoSPA gold awards for outstanding health and safety.
You may find our advisory booklet ‘Lifts – your questions answered’ particularly useful. Please call us on the number below to request your free copy or simply download at www.stannahlifts.co.uk/news-and-resources/product-literature.asp
Alternatively come and join us for a chat and refreshment at Stand Q1020 in The Facilities Show at London’s ExCel Centre from 17 -19th June 2014. We look forward to meeting you.
For further information visit www.stannahlifts.co.uk, email stannahliftservices@stannah.co.uk or call 01264 364311.
-ends-
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