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Of: TT
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Photo: Malin Hoelstad / TT
An elevator in central Stockholm was cordoned off after an accident in 2002 in which a man and a child were injured after the elevator crashed into the bottom of the elevator shaft. According to the Hissförbundet trade association, there are many old elevators in Sweden that lack protection against accidents. Stock Photography.
One in five elevators in Sweden lacks adequate protection against accidents. The elevator industry demands stricter rules.
– We don’t want to risk the children getting into trouble again. It is mainly children who suffer serious injuries, says the general secretary of the Association of Lifts, Anne Geitmann.
Elevator accidents are not uncommon in Sweden. In May, an elevator assembler died after being trapped in an elevator at Gothenburg’s Nordstan shopping center and two years ago the National Housing, Building and Planning Board warned of old elevators with double doors after a child was crushed and seriously injured in an elevator in Stockholm.
Elevator association member companies reported at least 210 elevator incidents and accidents in 2019. But owners are not required to report accidents to companies and reliable statistics are lacking.
– We assume that there are a lot of blackouts and what we see happening is so serious that we really need to fix it, says Anne Geitmann.
Many old elevators
The problem is that old elevators are not covered by the new safety requirements until they are modernized. And it is up to the property owner if the old elevators need to be repaired.
Sweden stands out when it comes to the number of older elevators. Of the 126,000 elevators in Sweden, more than half are over 30 years old. The elevator association writes in a report that at least 26,000 elevators have doors that lack adequate protection.
– We have the oldest stock of lifts in Europe. At the same time, we have not modernized our elevators at the same rate as other countries, says Anne Geitmann.
The elevator association wants the National Housing, Building and Planning Board to toughen its regulations. Among other things, there must be basket opening protection requirements for all elevators, dangerous doors must be replaced, and an emergency telephone with two-way communication must be available.
– A phone that really goes somewhere. Today, many old elevators have a telephone that only rings in the stairwell, notes Anne Geitmann.
Dialogue with the government
Krister Svensson of the National Board for Housing, Building and Planning believes that the Norwegian Lift Association’s report is factual and highlights the problems, but the agency cannot act alone. Dialogue is being held with Government Offices on one of the problems addressed in the report, older elevators with double doors, he says.
– There were two relatively short interval accidents in 2018 in which children were trapped in this space. Then we called a discussion meeting, says Krister Svensson.
Repairing all the old elevators means higher costs for the owners, but Anne Geitmann points out that it’s the measures that have an effect. In 2012, unprotected elevators were banned when opening the basket in workshops.
– Since then, according to the Swedish Work Environment Authority, there have been no fatal accidents from being crushed with goods in the elevator. But in residential buildings there are not the same rules and therefore the risk of accidents is great, he says.
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