Tail Wags the Dog Down Under

In its recent newsletter, the Lift Engineering Society of Australia (LESA) used a section of a beehive to illustrate how the Australian lift industry is hamstrung by decisions made in isolation. According to LESA, Australia’s vertical-transportation (VT) market share is less than 1% of the world VT market. The lion’s share of its VT equipment is imported. Yet, like the country and continent itself, the number and type of issues with which the VT industry must deal are vast and, unfortunately, fragmented. There is lack of cohesiveness on issues including passenger and worker safety, accessibility, codes, standards and legalities, among many others.

In “Challenging Our Thinking Regarding Lift Accidents,” a paper first presented virtually at the 12th Lift & Escalator Symposium in September 2021 and published in ELEVATOR WORLD in March 2022, authors Roger Kahler and Nicholas Pierce — experts in VT legal issues and engineering, respectively — spoke about a specific instance in which the Australian VT industry’s failure to build useful datasets negatively impacts passenger safety. The authors examined two fatal incidents that both involved the “exposed and rising part” of an escalator handrail. Approximately 15 years after the fatalities, the Australian lift industry began to use safety barriers, “but we still fail to address the rising part of the handrail.” They went on to say:

“The point being made is that, as an industry, we are not building useful datasets that aid in understanding and providing insight into the relative importance of the different mechanisms by which people lose their lives or are permanently damaged as a result of using lifts and escalators.”

LESA’s beehive illustration (below) gives a good overview of the issues and entities with which the domestic VT industry must deal. In addition to those mentioned above, they include National Construction Code, the Australian Building Codes Board, different state regulations and old technology. “A wise man would say it is like a tail wagging the dog,” LESA observed.