Pit Safety System

This Product Spotlight focuses on a system designed to mitigate the top three causes of pit accidents.

submitted by ECI America

ECI America offers a complete pit safety system appropriately named PitSafe®. The system was developed from a study of available pit accident data that clearly indicated three common causes:

• human error (non-compliance with safety protocols)
• miscommunication and distractions
• faulty switches

Interestingly, a common thread emerged from most of the elevator pit accidents: individuals gaining access without taking the car out of service. This trend wasn’t confined to forgetful mechanics; it extended to unauthorized individuals seeking entry to retrieve dropped items like keys and cell phones. Notably, even when the pit stop switch wasn’t activated, individuals consistently turned on pit lights through the adjacent switch, highlighting the crucial role of illumination in these situations. This realization became the cornerstone of the PitSafe system, ensuring that the lights only come on when the elevator car is taken out of service. This simple yet innovative idea has the potential to eliminate human error accidents for anyone entering the elevator pit.

To address the common causes, PitSafe underwent careful evaluation. Miscommunication and distractions were resolved by placing the safe movement of the car within the hands of the mechanic, allowing the car to be lowered only when taken out of service by a professional. The third cause, faulty equipment, was eliminated by incorporating fail-safe switches and fail-safe circuitry.

Furthermore, consulting industry safety handbooks revealed that most hazards could be mitigated with adequate lighting in the pit. Therefore, the PitSafe system includes two 4-ft CabLite® Roughneck LED light bars, surpassing code-required light levels. This not only exceeds industry standards but also provides added security with emergency battery backup for safe egress in the event of a power failure. Additionally, ECI America explored further enhancements for a comprehensive pit safety system and added Flood Guard, a flood event detection device. This device ensures ease of the controller interface or standalone alarm to notify of water/oil events within the pit.

PitSafe stands as a thoughtfully crafted, cost-effective system designed to prevent human error accidents, provide safe illumination for all entering the pit and notify against potential water and oil events. As dedicated industry professionals, ECI America invites you to prioritize safety in your projects. Inquiries about PitSafe can be made at sales@ECIAmerica.com.