The Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation is an American non-profit organization that was established in 1991 to teach both children and adults about safety and proper use of elevators, escalators, and moving walkways. The National Association of Elevator Safety Authorities (NAESA) first proposed and established a committee in 1988 to investigate the proposal to create a Foundation to educate the public in general, and children in particular, on the safe and proper way to ride on elevators and escalators.

This committee was originally comprised of suppliers, contractors and inspectors of elevators and escalators. Very quickly the committee realized that if they wanted to be successful with the idea of a safety Foundation, they would have to enlist the support and aid of the entire industry. The idea of an Elevator and Escalator Safety Foundation was proposed at the next Bridge Builders meeting at the convention of the National Association of Elevator Contractors. The Bridge Builders was established years previous as an informal forum to integrate all of the industries associations for the purpose of identification of mutual problems and to prevent the associations from duplicating the efforts of other associates.

National Elevator Escalator Safety Awareness Week takes place annually on the second full week of November. The purpose is to publicize the general safety rules which have been developed by the Foundation. Individual communities have created materials which they distribute throughout the Awareness week, some have gotten the mayors and governors in their areas to issue Proclamations, some have even gotten Public Service Announcement spots on local television stations, in their efforts to raise awareness and safe usage of escalators and elevators.

The main focus of the Foundation is to educate children safety when aboard an elevator or escalator. The Foundation’s Safe-T-Rider program for kids was featured on the “Today” show in 1996 which means that the safety message reached 8 million homes. While it may seem to some that this is a big to-do over something that many would say is common sense, the improper operation or usage of an elevator or escalator could cause grave bodily injury and even, in rare instances, death. At one time or another we have all seen a child in an elevator or on an escalator at the mall horsing around, walking up the down escalators or vice versa, or riding toward the slot that you step over to exit the escalators at the end of your ride with their shoestrings untied or hanging down where they could get caught in that slot. Many of us thought at that time that their parents or guardians should pay more attention and get a better handle on their children, and some fewer people may fleetingly have considered the horrible accident that could happen if those shoestrings were to get caught in the escalator. Only a very small number of people, upon seeing such a hazard, would say something to the child or to the adult with them to warn the child or to bring the risk to the parents’ attention. Children and adults need to be told about the risks, and informed of the proper and safe way to use elevators and escalators.

Author Bio: Wilson Castrillon has been in the elevator industry for over 25 years. In the 1990s he received his NYC Department of Buildings inspector’s license and his QEI Certification. In 1999 he started his own elevator consulting business providing design, engineering, and more. www.cbaconsultants.com

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