Escalator Accidents Analysis

More and more; escalators are being widely used to access locations at different levels. The user assumes that the escalators are completely safe but the harsh reality is that accidents happen and in some cases the consequences are fatal. In order to try to prevent accidents, the first step is to find out why or under what circumstances they occur. Different committees and organizations around the world collect data about accidents. Existing reports show that since the 1990’s a steady increase in the number of accidents regarding escalators have occurred but few statistics on escalator-related accidents have been published worldwide. From the analysis of these statistics, it seems that the assessment of the accidents does not always follows the same criteria as the data is not consistent when reports are crosschecked. This paper looks at the available records on accidents on escalators, opportunities that currently exist to gather information and parameters analysed from such information. Also, the paper proposes a systematic approach to escalator accident records to allow that the data gathered provides relevant information that could be taken as a reference for establishing the necessary measures that guarantee the safety of users and escalator technicians.