Safety of capital's lifts set to elevate
More than 100,000 electric lifts in the capital are being fitted with GPS monitoring devices and automatic alarm systems in a move aimed at improving safety.
Beijing's elevators are being upgraded one week ahead of new national standards.
One in 10 elevators in China are in Beijing.
The upgrade has been approved by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the Standardizations Administration, and will come into effect on March 1, the Mirror Evening News reported yesterday.
According to the new standard, alarm devices and talkbacks must be set up in lifts where they can easily be recognized and reached, the newspaper said.
The Beijing Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision says the GPS devices will be able to transfer the operation information to the terminal monitoring system, local media reported.
In the future, it is possible that all new lifts will have to include the devices before they can be sold to the Beijing market.
"Establishing the monitoring system in lifts could help operating staff get more information about lifts' operation. It's very important when accidents happen," Li Hualiang, director of the special equipment supervision department in the municipal bureau was quoted as saying.
The monitoring system will be similar to the "black boxes" in airplanes.
Li also said the automatic alarm system could help people communicate with elevator operating staff through video links in the event of a lift malfunction.
"Professional staff could help people inside the cage calm down and call for rescuers through the communication system," the director said.
As many as 80 percent of elevator accidents are caused by problems with lift doors because of a lack of regular equipment checks and repairs, the newspaper reported.
In one recent tragedy, a 68-year-old female resident, surnamed Liu, died in Fengtai district in June 2008 after the lift she was stuck in fell several floors. Twenty-one-year-old elevator mechanic Yang Yong was also injured in the incident and was in a coma for three days
