LIFT Safety

Recommendations to improve the safety of existing lifts BS EN81-80

Levelling
Communication
Lighting
Access
Lift Doors
Voids
Inspection
(See inside for comprehensive check list)

About Guideline
Guideline Lift Services is one of
the most experienced
independent lift companies in
the UK. Established in 1972,
Guideline quickly went from
strength to strength, offering
clients a trustworthy, reliable
and efficient service. Having
built up this reputation in the
South East, we are now taking
our service nationwide.
Guideline Lift Services is a full service
lift company providing lift mainte-
nance 24/87/365. We provide a break-
down response service, lift repairs,
maintenance contracts, modernisation
solutions and new lift installations
across the UK.
We are extremely proud of our port-
folio which includes a wide range of
clients from small-scale installations to
government organisations, property
management companies, main
contractors and housing associations.
At the heart of this thriving company is
a team of highly-skilled and experi-
enced staff. Our Board of Directors has
more than 150 years’ combined expe-
rience in the lift industry; we employ
more than 90 people who have almost
2,000 years’ combined experience in
the lift industry; all engineers are quali-
fied to NVQ3 or equivalent and testers
and technicians
are trained to NVQ4.
Add to this an apprenticeship scheme
with 10 lift trainees all working to-
wards their NVQ3 lift engineering
qualifications and you’ll understand
that we are a company dedicated to
service, quality and the future.
LIFT Safety
Improved safety through risk assessment
Lifts remain in service for
longer periods of time than
most products and are among
the very few modes of
transport available for
continuous unsupervised use
by all persons, ranging from
the very young to the elderly
and infirm. They are one of
the safest forms of transport
and are designed to strict and
comprehensive standards.
In 1995, European
Parliaments made certain
recommendations, which
are now covered more
comprehensively in a
new European Standard
published in 2004, entitled
Rules For The Improvement of
Safety of Existing Passenger
and Goods Passenger Lifts
(BS EN81-80).
Based on established risk
assessment principles, the
Standard identifies where
hazards can occur, and from a
risk analysis viewpoint, illustrates
these in high, medium, and
low priority with proposed
corrective actions.
The standard recognises
circumstances will vary
between counties and from
one lift to another. It provides a
comprehensive check-list of such
hazards even though relatively
few might require attention in
the case of any individual lift
installation.
This guide lists all the hazards
as they appear in the Standard
and gives them the same priority
listing in a simplified format for
ease of identification.
Many European countries have
no embodied, within their law,
safety provisions reflecting
certain aspects of the new
Standard. Traditionally, UK
legislation is not prescriptive for
individual products but relies
upon an overall obligation
towards maintaing health
and safety.
Nevertheless, what other
countries aim to achieve
through specific legislation
has no less significance
under UK law.
 Check List
74 point lift safety check list
74-point Lift Safety checklist - points in bold are explained in greater detail overleaf
1 ❒ Presence of harmful materials 39 ❒ Inadequate length of car apron
2 ❒ No or limited accessibility for disabled persons 40 ❒ Car without doors
3 ❒ D rive systems with poor stopping/Levelling 41 ❒ Unsafe locking of car roof trap door
Accuracy 42 ❒ Insufficient strength of car roof
4 ❒ No or inadequate vandal resistance 43 ❒ No or inadequate balustrade on care roof
5 ❒ No or inadequate control functions in case of fire 44 ❒ Insufficient ventilation in car
6 ❒ Well enclosures with perforated walls 45 ❒ Inadequate lighting in car
7 ❒ Partially enclosed well with too low enclosure 46 ❒ No or inadequate emergency lighting in car
8 ❒ Inadequate locking devices on access doors to well 47 ❒ N o or inadequate protection on sheaves, pulleys
an pit and sprockets against injury
9 ❒ Inadequate vertical surface below 48 ❒ No
 or inadequate protection against ropes/chains
landing door sills leaving the sheaves, pulleys or sprockets
10 ❒ Counterweight/balancing weight without safety 49 ❒ N o or inadequate protection on sheaves, pulleys
gear in case of accessibly spaces below and sprockets against introduction of objects
11 ❒ N
 o or inadequate partition of counterweight/ 50 ❒ N o or inadequate safety gear and/or over speed
balancing weight travel path at the lowest terminal governor on electric lifts
12 ❒ N
 o or inadequate pit screen for several lifts in the 51 ❒ N o or inadequate slack rope with for governor
same well rope
13 ❒ N
 o or Inadequate partition for several lifts in the 52 ❒ No protection against ascending car over speed
same well 53 ❒ Inadequate
 lift machine design for prevent uncon-
14 ❒ Insufficient safety spaces in headroom pit trolled up or down movement of the car whilst
15 ❒ Unsafe pit access doors are open
16 ❒ N
 o or inadequate stopping devices in the pit or in 54 ❒ N o or inadequate protection against free fall, over
the pulley speed and creeping on hydraulic lifts
17 ❒ No or inadequate lighting of the well 55 ❒ U nsuitable guidance system for counterweight or
18 ❒ No alarm system in pit and on car roof balancing weight.
19 ❒ N
 o or Unsafe means of access to machine and 56 ❒ No or inadequate buffers
pulley room 57 ❒ No or inadequate final limit switches
20 ❒ Slippery floor in machine or pulley room 58 ❒ L arge gap between car and wall facing car en-
21 ❒ Insufficient clearances in machine room trance
22 ❒ N
 o or inadequate protection on different levels in 59 ❒ E xcessive distance between car and wall facing the
machine rooms car entrance
23 ❒ Inadequate lighting in machine or pulley room 60 ❒ No or inadequate emergency operation system
24 ❒ Inadequate means handling equipment 61 ❒ No hydraulic shut off value
25 ❒ Perforate landing doors and or car doors 62 ❒ No independent starting contractors
26 ❒ Inadequate design of landing door fittings 63 ❒ No or inadequate slack rope/chain device
27 ❒ Inappropriate glass in doors 64 ❒ No run-time limiter
28 ❒ N
 o or inadequate protection against dragging of 65 ❒ No or inadequate low pressure device
fingers on sliding car or landing doors with glass 66 ❒ Insufficient protection against electric shock and/
29 ❒ No or inadequate lighting on landing or marking of electrical equipment
30 ❒ N
 o or inadequate protective devices on power 67 ❒ No or inadequate protection of lift machine
operated doors 68 ❒ No lockable main switch
31 ❒ Unsafe locking device of landing door 69 ❒ No protection against phase reversal
32 ❒ Unlocking of landing door without a special tool 70 ❒ N o or inadequate inspection control station and
33 ❒ Well enclosure with perforate walls near door locks stop ping device on car roof
34 ❒ No automatic closing device on sliding doors 71 ❒ No or inadequate alarm device
35 ❒ Inadequate link between panels of landing doors 72 ❒ N o or inadequate communication system between
36 ❒ Inadequate fire resistance of landing doors machine room and car (travel height > 30m)
37 ❒ Car door moving with open landing door 73 ❒ No or inadequate load control on car
38 ❒ Large car area in relation to rated load 74 ❒ M issing notices, marking and operating instruc-

Key to priority levels: ❒ = Low ❒ = Medium ❒ = High

OUR CLIENT LIST

Here are the names of some

satisfied clients.

• Natwest Bank
• Barclays Bank
• General Accident
• Friends Provident
• Woolwich PLC
• Corporation of London
• Royal Garden Hotel
• Scottish Widows
• Sotheby’s
• J Sainsbury
• Arcadia Group
• Amec Facilities
• Esso Petroleum
• National Trust
• London Underground
• Price Waterhouse Cooper
• The Wellcome Trust
• Metropolitan Police
• Essex University
• Royal Palaces
• Cambridge University
• Diageo
• Barbican Estate
• Barbican Centre
• British Museum
• Telereal

To find out how we can deliver a service that meets

your needs and exceeds your expectations call us on

0800 193 5438

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