Not only are battery vehicles not allowed to enter, but you should also pay attention to these 4 issues regarding elevator safety.

1. Do not push the battery car into the elevator

Recently, another news related to "elevator safety" has been on the search list - fortunately, this time it is not sad news, but a little cute: a child who entered the elevator with his mother was identified as an electric vehicle by the camera, and the camera repeatedly reminded that "electric vehicles are not allowed to enter".

Photo: Weibo user @梦济南

If you search for "electric vehicle elevator", you will find that there are frequent news reports of accidents caused by electric vehicles catching fire in elevators, which often make people shocked and sad.

In fact, as early as 2018, the State Council Work Safety Committee proposed to work hard to solve the problems of "electric bicycles entering buildings and households" and "people and bicycles living in the same room". This is because electric bicycles are prone to spontaneous combustion when using inferior batteries, batteries are beyond their service life, or the lines are short-circuited. Once spontaneous combustion occurs, the fire will start very quickly, and the flame temperature can reach nearly 1000℃ within 100 seconds. Especially in closed and narrow elevators, there are no fire-fighting equipment and facilities. In the event of such a rapid fire, it is difficult for people to escape, and sometimes the fire will even turn into a deflagration.

Fortunately, some residential properties have now installed control devices to prevent electric bicycles from entering elevators. Once an electric bicycle enters the elevator, the elevator will issue a voice reminder and refuse to carry passengers. In addition, there are also many notices posted in conspicuous places.

Unfortunately, regulations are regulations, and when they are implemented, some people always take chances and push electric bicycles into the elevator for the sake of convenience. Once the alarm system fails and the electric bicycle enters the elevator, there is a risk of accidents.

Therefore, the safety of elevator operation can actually start from the small things around us -

If you encounter someone trying to push an electric bike into the elevator, you should give some friendly reminders;

If the other party still insists after you have reminded him, at least you can remind yourself: for safety reasons, don't take this elevator.

Battery bike fire accident in elevator丨"Xiaoxiang Morning News"

2. Don’t block the elevator door with anything

In addition to electric vehicles, there is another common elevator usage behavior that can also bring great safety hazards. Take a look at these scenes. Are you familiar with them?

When moving or waiting for someone, in order to make the elevator stop for a while, some people often use their feet or other objects (such as boxes, umbrellas, etc.) to block the elevator door so that it does not close temporarily; or, because they are in a hurry to get on the elevator, some people will reach in to stop the elevator door when it is closing.

In fact, these practices are very unsafe.

In 2017, an accident occurred in Hangzhou, Zhejiang: someone placed a thermos cup at the elevator entrance to prevent the elevator door from closing, causing the elevator door to explode.

The elevator door safety protection device we use in our daily life, also called the anti-pinch sensing device, is mainly divided into two types: touch plate type and light curtain type. It can prevent us from being pinched by the elevator door when entering and exiting the elevator, thereby ensuring our daily elevator safety.

The light curtain elevator is equipped with infrared transmitters and receivers on both sides of the elevator door, which then emit infrared rays to "weave" into a light curtain. When the elevator door is closing, if a person or object touches the light curtain, the infrared rays will be blocked and the receiver will open the door. The touch panel elevator has a protruding touch panel on the elevator door. The touch panel is connected to the elevator control system through the touch panel sensing. When an object touches the touch panel, the elevator door will stop closing and automatically pop open. Now, there are also elevator doors that are two-in-one with touch panels and light curtains, and both methods can make the elevator door pop open.

However, all three types of elevator doors have blind spots. Especially the elevator doors we use now, which are generally light curtain type and two-in-one type, have a sensing blind spot of 10 cm above and below and 2 cm in the middle, especially at the bottom of the door. If an object is in the blind spot, the elevator door will close and continue to run when it cannot sense an obstacle, which may cause an accident.

If the elevator is out of repair or not properly maintained, it may "catch foreign objects and continue to run". There was a real case where a person was dragged and sheared to death when the elevator unexpectedly moved up and down when he stepped into it. Therefore, you must not stand at the entrance for a long time when entering or exiting the elevator.

In addition, please pay attention to the following when entering and exiting the elevator:

1. Do not block the elevator door with your body or other objects;

2. When the elevator door is closing, do not enter the elevator, let alone reach out to stop it;

3. Enter and exit the elevator as quickly as possible. Children should be led by adults and be careful not to get pet leashes caught in the door.

And please remember: the above safety rules are not repetitive clichés, there are basis and lessons behind them.

3. If the elevator cannot be opened, do not pry it open

In May this year, a video of a 13-year-old boy in Fujian who was trapped in an elevator and tried to save himself but later died broke the hearts of many people. In the surveillance video, it can be seen that in order to save himself, the boy used a long-handled umbrella to pry open the elevator door and the elevator door on the 6th floor, then lay down and crawled out. He didn't know that outside the two doors was not a landing station, but a bottomless elevator shaft, and the tragedy happened.

In fact, it is not only children, but adults also do this. In 2020, a man used a steel bar to pry open the elevator door in order to take the elevator upstairs, and forcibly opened the elevator that was not in normal use. As a result, he fell from the elevator entrance on the first floor to the bottom of the elevator shaft in the basement on the second floor and died on the spot.

Diagram of a person falling after forcibly prying the door丨xindianti.com

Why do incidents of people prying open elevator doors to save themselves happen so frequently?

In addition to the inevitable panic among the parties involved, it is also because many people do not understand the structure of the elevator.

Simply put, the internal structure of an elevator can be divided into four parts: the machine room, the shaft, the landing, and the car. The place where we wait for the elevator is called the "landing", and the part of the elevator we usually ride is called the "car". The car works in the vertical shaft driven by the traction system in the machine room. When it reaches a fixed landing, the car will stop. In other words, when we take the elevator, the top and bottom of the car are almost empty.

Internal structure of the elevator shaft丨@Manufacturing Frontline

Then why can't you break the door and escape?

This is because when an elevator stops due to a malfunction, the car is often not in a horizontal position with the landing as normal, but stops between two landings. After prying open the elevator door, people may see the next landing and think they can jump directly to it to save themselves, but the space under their feet determines that such an action is difficult to succeed.

Moreover, forcibly prying the door open at this time will put us in double danger: if the elevator suddenly starts moving at this time, people will be immediately squeezed by the door frame and the car; even if the elevator is not running, when trying to pry open the door and jump to the ground, the body is likely to lose balance and fall into the empty shaft.

Therefore, if you encounter an elevator failure, do not attempt to pry the door open to save yourself.

The best way to deal with this is to:

Use the emergency alarm in the elevator, or dial the elevator emergency number 96333, and then wait quietly for rescue; in case the equipment fails and your mobile phone has no signal, you can gently knock on the door and shout or take off your shoes and knock on the door to send a signal for help.

If no one responds, you need to wait calmly and observe the movements. Do not kick or knock on the door frequently. Conserve your energy and wait for rescue.

In addition, you don't have to worry about suffocating due to lack of oxygen in the elevator. Because, according to the "Elevator Manufacturing and Installation Specifications", each car must be equipped with ventilation holes, so it's no problem to stay in it for a few hours.

For example, the performance of this Tianjin old man is worth learning丨@CCTV News

4. Classic fear of elevators:

What should I do if the "rope" in the elevator breaks?

Many people have a classic fear about elevators: What if the "rope" of the elevator suddenly breaks? Will I fall directly from the top floor to the bottom floor?

don’t worry.

First of all, there is usually more than one load-bearing wire rope in an elevator, and one wire rope is twisted from several wires. According to the "Safe Use and Maintenance of Wire Ropes" standard: even if only one wire rope reaches the scrap standard, the entire set of wire ropes must be replaced.

In addition, if the wire rope is really broken, the "speed limiter" and "safety clamp" in the elevator will also respond in time. When the elevator reaches 115% of the rated speed, the speed limiter will send a signal in time, and the safety clamp will clamp the guide rail to stop the car and keep it stationary. In particular, the safety clamp is a mechanical device that can still work even if the power is off.

If the situation gets worse, even if all the above facilities fail, there is still one last layer of protection at the bottom of the elevator: the buffer. When the elevator falls to the bottom of the shaft, the buffer can convert the huge kinetic energy generated by the elevator into the deformation of the spring, reducing the damage to the passengers in the car.

Speaking of which, the situation where "the elevator keeps falling" is rare in real life and almost non-existent.

However, there is one situation that may cause the elevator to fall, and that is "overloading". When the elevator is overloaded, the lack of traction may cause the elevator to fall out of control. Therefore, never overload the elevator.

As for the creaking or rattling noises you sometimes hear from the elevator, don't worry. Many factors may cause the elevator to make noises, such as the angle of the guide rail, the lubrication and wear of the rope, the tightness of the guide shoe, etc. You can call the property management to provide feedback.

What should you do if you really encounter an elevator falling?

Please remember:

You can press your entire back and head against the wall of the compartment and bend your legs to cushion the impact and reduce injuries.

If there are handrails in the elevator, hold on to them.

In the meantime, try to stay calm.

Popular Science: The Best Actions When an Elevator Falls丨@CCTV News

In my country, elevators are special equipment and are strictly managed. In addition to technical guarantees, the Regulations on Safety Supervision of Special Equipment also require that elevators should be adjusted and inspected at least once every 15 days.

When you take an elevator, you can check if there is a "Safety Inspection Pass" sign like the one in the picture above. This certificate must be issued by the national quality inspection department, affixed to the car, and protected by a protective box. You can check whether it is within the safety inspection validity period. Elevators that have not undergone safety inspections beyond the expiration date have safety hazards and should not be used.

Of course, what you should pay more attention to is not to do the above-mentioned dangerous behaviors, learn and spread correct self-rescue methods, and protect yourself and those you care about when necessary.

References

[1] Xu Nuo, Chen Peng. Review of elevator history and development prospects[J]. Engineering Construction and Design, 2004(01):21-22.

[2] GB7588-2003. Safety Specification for Elevator Manufacturing and Installation [S].

[3] Order No. 373 of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. Regulations on Safety Supervision of Special Equipment[Z].

[4]QB/CYSC Z HJ122-2011. Elevator Safety Operation Regulations[S].

[5] DB11/T 1520-2018. Specification for Elevator Safety Risk Assessment[S].

[6] Lei Yanchang, Xu Zhiming, Nie Weixiong. Causes of elevator accidents and preventive rescue measures [J]. China Elevator, 2019(30)6:46-46.

[7] GBT 21739-2008 Specification for the manufacture and installation of household elevators

[8] GBT 29086-2012 Safe Use and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes

Author: Anchan

Editor: Maiya Yang

Thanks to Ms. Zhong Lianying (former safety supervisor and registered safety engineer of China Second Heavy Machinery Group Corporation) for her help in this article.

This article comes from Guokr and may not be reproduced without permission.

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