Following is a question by the Hon WONG Kwok-hing and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (July 12):
Question:
It was reported that in a recent accident in Japan, a lift suddenly moved upward while a teenager was entering the lift. Unable to escape in time, the teenager was crushed to death. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of accidents caused by failures of lifts and escalators which resulted in casualties in each of the past five years, and among such accidents, the number of those involving violations of the Lifts and Escalators (Safety) Ordinance and/or the Lift Owners' Guidebook;
(b) of the respective numbers of lifts and escalators in Hong Kong, and the frequency of periodic maintenance, examination and testing to be performed each year on a lift or an escalator as required by the legislation;
(c) of the number of competent lift workers ("competent workers") currently employed by registered lift contractors;
(d) of the number of cases in which competent workers were called to the rescue of people trapped in lifts in each of the past five years; and
(e) based on the current ratios of lifts/escalators to competent workers, of the amounts of time a competent worker may spend on rescue operations and on periodic maintenance, examination and testing respectively, and whether the Government will stipulate the minimum amount of time a competent worker should engage in periodic maintenance, examination and testing of lifts/escalators; if so, when such a stipulation will be made; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The numbers of accidents caused by failures of lifts and escalators which resulted in casualties in the past five years are as follows (the numbers in brackets indicate fatal accidents whereas the rest refer to injury accidents):
Year |
Number of accidents involving lifts |
Number of accidents involving escalators |
2005 |
19 |
8 |
2004 |
11+(1*) |
1 |
2003 |
14 |
5 |
2002 |
12+(1) |
3 |
2001 |
20 |
2 |
* The court is inquiring whether violation of the Lifts and Escalators (Safety) Ordinance (the Ordinance) was involved in the accident. Other than that, all the above cases involving lifts and escalators in the past five years are not violations of the Ordinance and/or the Lift Owners' Guidebook.
(b) As at the end of May 2006, there were a total of 47 313 lifts and 6 646 escalators covered under the Ordinance. The cycles of periodic maintenance, periodic examination and periodic testing for lifts and escalators as provided under the Ordinance are detailed as follows:
(i) For periodic maintenance, every lift and escalator shall be inspected, cleaned, oiled and adjusted by a registered lift contractor or a registered escalator contractor at intervals not exceeding one month. The Code of Practice for Lift Works and Escalator Works (the Code) drawn up by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (the EMSD) further requires lift contractors and escalator contractors to carry out the above maintenance services at least once every two weeks or as specified in the guidelines of the manufacturer (whichever interval is shorter).
(ii) For periodic examination, every lift shall be thoroughly examined by a registered lift engineer at intervals not exceeding 12 months, and every escalator shall be thoroughly examined by a registered escalator engineer at intervals not exceeding 6 months.
(iii) For periodic testing, the safety equipment of every lift shall be tested by a registered lift engineer at intervals not exceeding 12 months by the operation of the same without any load in the lift, and at intervals not exceeding 5 years by the operation of the same with a load in the lift. The safety equipment of every escalator shall be tested by a registered escalator engineer at intervals not exceeding 12 months by the operation of the same without any load on the escalator.
(c) As at the end of December 2005, there were a total of 4 820 competent lift and escalator workers employed by registered lift and escalator contractors. Of these, 4 324 were both competent lift and competent escalator workers, 379 competent lift workers only, and 117 competent escalator workers only.
(d) Rescue operations for people trapped in lifts are normally carried out by competent lift workers or firemen. The EMSD has no record of cases in which only competent lift workers were called to the rescue. According to the EMSD, the numbers of cases (excluding cases of main power supply failure) involving people being trapped in lifts and causing injuries over the past five years are as follows:
| Year | Number of accidents |
| 2005 | 9 |
| 2004 | 7 |
| 2003 | 1 |
| 2002 | 5 |
| 2001 | 7 |
(e) The amounts of time a competent worker may spend on rescue operations and on periodic maintenances, examinations and testings depend on the actual needs and the arrangements of the registered lift contractors or registered escalator contractors, which may vary from one contractor to another.
As expounded in (b) above, the cycles of periodic maintenance, examination and testing of lifts and escalators are provided for in the Ordinance and the Code. Registered lift contractors and registered escalator contractors are required by the Code to make proper arrangements with regard to the working hours of their workers. The Government considers that the current practice of giving contractors the flexibility to assign manpower and working hours in light of their own circumstances, subject to the compliance of the periodic maintenance, examination and testing requirements stipulated by law, is appropriate and effective. Therefore, there is no need to stipulate the minimum amount of time a competent worker should engage in the above areas of work.
Ends/Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:58
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