Help the lift’s stopped…

Misconceptions, about lifts.

Escape Hatches

(or why Bruce Willis would be out of luck on our lifts.)

We have all seen films where, the hero, cleverly escapes his pursuers, by climbing out of a lift car through the escape hatch. There are several reasons why this is a load of old cobblers.

1. Have you ever looked at the ceiling of a lift? it’s usually not immediately obvious how you would get it down to repair the lights never mind fight a one man guerilla action against terrorists in your vest.
   Its like a combination of a Rubik’s Cube and powerlifting.
   (Every. Single. Lift. We. Have. Is. Different!)
2. You can’t open the hatch from the inside… It’s not an ‘escape hatch’ well not for passengers anyway. it’s so the installers can get on to the cartop, and if something goes wrong off it.Therefore the latch is on the outside.
3. There isn’t a hatch… Yeah sorry, I haven’t seen a new lift with a hatch on for years.

So what happens if the lift stops… Not much, ring the alarm, set off the autodialler, talk to whoever is on the end of the phone, and sit tight.

You are perfectly safe in the car,
you know where you are not safe?
clambering about on top of a stopped lift, after all you dont know if it’s going to move, or what on top will move and cut bits off you.
You won’t suffocate in the car, they are not airtight,
the car won’t fall. You are probably standing in one of the safest forms of transport there is, It has been engineered in.You are protected by mechanical safety devices, electrical safety devices, and these days digital safety devices. Is it a PITA to be stuck in a lift, sure. Is it irritating that the lift engineer has turned up and you are still in the lift,
yep, but he’s not messing about, he’s making sure he can get you out safely and with as little fuss as possible. I know that’s not very helpful if you are a person with claustrophobia, or really need the loo, but they are going as fast as they can.

If you are not the one in the lift what can you do to help? If you can have a chat and calm the trapped passenger, great but don’t touch anything, and definitely don’t try to force the doors open, or go and fiddle around in the motor room. If the engineer needs help they will ask,but on the whole if they are working the thing they need most is for you to be somewhere else, so they don’t have to worry about your safety as well.

So am I bothered by Bruce, climbing out of lifts, through the roof?
Naah, it’s only a movie, and a Christmas one at that….