The Lift and Escalator Industry
Action Taken
The Lift and Escalator Industry Association (LEIA) published a safety notice on their website on behalf of Phoenix Lifting Systems regarding lifting platforms with one-touch platform controls and emailed it to all their members. (AI summary)
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Dear Mrs Lee,
Regulation 28 letter – Coventry Coroner
Many thanks for your letter of 18 July. We take such matters very seriously and have been in email correspondence to clarify your expectation of what action we can take, and to understand more of the circumstances of the accident leading to Jacqueline Langworthy’s death. Many thanks for engaging with us and providing further details. The further details you provided indicated that the accident occurred on a lifting platform manufactured by Phoenix Lifting Systems. Phoenix Lifting Systems is not a member of our Association and so we have limited influence (our role as a trade association is advisory). Nevertheless, we have held a meeting with Phoenix Lifting Systems in our offices and have agreed a safety notice which we published on our website at: https://www.leia.co.uk/technical/product-information/ on 19 August when we also emailed it to all our members. In the email exchange, you agreed that we could make a limited response before 15 September and the details above form our limited response. The remainder of the letter looks at issues which we believe are needed for a fuller response to your letter. Owing to holidays and the frequency of our meetings, this would take us beyond 15 September so we would provide a fuller response on this point in due course. Our comments are made in relation to the three matters of concern you raised. (1) “Many platform lifts still in use in care settings and other premises do not have hold-to-run controls”. We understand that Phoenix Lifting Systems did supply some lifting platforms which did not have hold to run controls in the period indicated on their notice.
2
We are working with our specialist committees to understand whether there might be other lifting platforms from other manufacturers which might not have hold to run controls – and if so what action we could take. (2) “Evidence was received indicating that such controls can be retrofitted at relatively low cost”. We understand that this evidence came from the care home owner (presumably after the accident). Our discussion with Phoenix Lifting Systems supports this for the lifting platforms that they manufactured and which still retain their original control systems. As above, if a similar issue applies to other manufacturers, we would need to understand whether they are readily retrofitted and then to consider action we could take. (3) “There is limited awareness of both the risks posed by the absence of hold-to-run devices”. LEIA previously published a homelift guide which included the use of constant pressure platform controls:
guide-fnl.pdf This guide was published after the introduction of BS EN 81-41 requiring platform control to be hold to run so would not have raised such risks. We are aware of HSE safety warnings for lifting platforms published in 2012 and 2019 but which did not deal with these risks. We note that your letter was sent also to the HSE and believe that a warning issued by the HSE on such risks would be very valuable. We have suggested this to the HSE and will have a meeting with HSE later in September when we will raise this.
In summary, we have published a warning notice on behalf of Phoenix Lifting Systems as an initial response and will continue to look into these three matters. We would most likely make a fuller response in October.
Many thanks again for your flexibility in this.
Regulation 28 letter – Coventry Coroner
Many thanks for your letter of 18 July. We take such matters very seriously and have been in email correspondence to clarify your expectation of what action we can take, and to understand more of the circumstances of the accident leading to Jacqueline Langworthy’s death. Many thanks for engaging with us and providing further details. The further details you provided indicated that the accident occurred on a lifting platform manufactured by Phoenix Lifting Systems. Phoenix Lifting Systems is not a member of our Association and so we have limited influence (our role as a trade association is advisory). Nevertheless, we have held a meeting with Phoenix Lifting Systems in our offices and have agreed a safety notice which we published on our website at: https://www.leia.co.uk/technical/product-information/ on 19 August when we also emailed it to all our members. In the email exchange, you agreed that we could make a limited response before 15 September and the details above form our limited response. The remainder of the letter looks at issues which we believe are needed for a fuller response to your letter. Owing to holidays and the frequency of our meetings, this would take us beyond 15 September so we would provide a fuller response on this point in due course. Our comments are made in relation to the three matters of concern you raised. (1) “Many platform lifts still in use in care settings and other premises do not have hold-to-run controls”. We understand that Phoenix Lifting Systems did supply some lifting platforms which did not have hold to run controls in the period indicated on their notice.
2
We are working with our specialist committees to understand whether there might be other lifting platforms from other manufacturers which might not have hold to run controls – and if so what action we could take. (2) “Evidence was received indicating that such controls can be retrofitted at relatively low cost”. We understand that this evidence came from the care home owner (presumably after the accident). Our discussion with Phoenix Lifting Systems supports this for the lifting platforms that they manufactured and which still retain their original control systems. As above, if a similar issue applies to other manufacturers, we would need to understand whether they are readily retrofitted and then to consider action we could take. (3) “There is limited awareness of both the risks posed by the absence of hold-to-run devices”. LEIA previously published a homelift guide which included the use of constant pressure platform controls:
guide-fnl.pdf This guide was published after the introduction of BS EN 81-41 requiring platform control to be hold to run so would not have raised such risks. We are aware of HSE safety warnings for lifting platforms published in 2012 and 2019 but which did not deal with these risks. We note that your letter was sent also to the HSE and believe that a warning issued by the HSE on such risks would be very valuable. We have suggested this to the HSE and will have a meeting with HSE later in September when we will raise this.
In summary, we have published a warning notice on behalf of Phoenix Lifting Systems as an initial response and will continue to look into these three matters. We would most likely make a fuller response in October.
Many thanks again for your flexibility in this.