Elevating Devices incident and hazard reporting

Information Bulletin

Information Bulletin: Elevating Devices incident and hazard reporting

June 20, 2017

Information Bulletin
Elevating Devices

Reference Number:

IB-ED 2017-01

Revision Number:

Rev 2



General Details
This information bulletin is being issued to clarify incident reporting requirements. It is issued with respect to sections 36 and 37 of the Safety Standards Act, section 34 of the Safety Standards General Regulation and section 20 of the Elevating Devices Safety Regulation.

How to Report Incidents and Hazards to Technical Safety BC

For emergency assistance call 911 or your local police or fire department directly.

Incidents and hazards are to be reported to Technical Safety BC through our website at https://portal.technicalsafetybc.ca/report-incident/incident-reporting-form or go to our website at www.technicalsafetybc.ca and select “I Want to“ >> “Report an Incident/Hazard.” Alternatively, call 1 866 566 7233 and follow the prompts to report an incident or hazard.

Note: voicemail and email messages made to Technical Safety BC employees concerning incidents and hazards are not considered to have been reported to Technical Safety BC as required by regulation.

Definitions

Incident: A failure of a regulated product, work or operation that causes:

  1. damage to property, personal injury or death
  2. damage to safety features.

Note:

  1. Property damage or injury focuses on the impact that the failed equipment may have had outside the boundaries of the product, work or operation.
  2. Damage to safety features relates to failures where the damage:
    • is limited to the failed product, work or operation and
    • does not render the product or activity inoperative and
    • impairs the safety feature’s effectiveness

Safety feature: An aspect of a product's design, installation, maintenance or operation that is intended to prevent people or property from being exposed to a hazard.

Hazard: A source of potential harm to persons or potential damage to property

Duty holder: A person or company who is responsible for compliance because they either own regulated products, or perform regulated work.

Reporting of Incidents to Technical Safety BC

The following duty holders are required to report all incidents to Technical Safety BC:

  • Person in charge of a regulated product or regulated work
  • Owner of the regulated product
  • Permit holder
  • Person authorized to perform or performing regulated work
  • Person authorized to operate or operating a regulated product
  • An officer or employee of a utility
  • Owner of a plant (as defined in the regulations)
  • Only one incident report per incident is required.

Duty to Preserve Incident Site for Investigation

A person must not remove, disturb or interfere with anything in, on or about the place where the incident occurred except as necessary to rescue a person, prevent injury or to protect property unless directed by a safety officer or safety manager.

Incidents involving elevating devices as indicated on page 4 must be evacuated and shut down immediately and must not be repaired or returned to service without the permission of a provincial safety officer.

Reporting of Hazards to Technical Safety BC

Hazards are required to be prevented or immediately corrected by duty holders that are responsible for the regulated product, work or operation. Hazards must be immediately reported to Technical Safety BC when:

  • it is not known if the hazard is being corrected by the duty holder, or
  • the same or similar hazards have been repeatedly observed and are associated with the same duty holder.

When to Report Incidents and Hazards to Technical Safety BC

For emergency assistance call 911 or your local police or fire department directly.

Incidents:

Unless otherwise indicated, all incidents are to be reported within the following timeframes:

  • Incidents resulting in a moderate, major or fatal injury – immediately
  • Incidents resulting in moderate, major or severe damage – immediately
  • All other incidents – within 24 hours (or as soon as practicable).

Moderate injuries are those that, while serious, are considered unlikely to have a significant effect to long-term quality of life. Examples include single limb fractures, concussions, disorientation.

Moderate damage is damage that results with controlled exposure to energy (i.e., electrical, thermal, mechanical) or the limited/controlled release of substances intended to be contained.

Hazards:


All hazards as described in the “reporting of hazards” section above are to be reported to Technical Safety BC immediately.

What to Expect After Reporting an Incident or Hazard to Technical Safety BC

Technical Safety BC tracks and investigates incidents and hazards that are reported to inform awareness and prevention initiatives. Consequently, Technical Safety BC does not investigate all reported incidents and may not follow-up with a notification unless there is an intention to investigate.

Summaries of all reported incidents and completed investigations can be accessed via Technical Safety BC at https://www.technicalsafetybc.ca/safety-information/incident-data. Technical Safety BC protects the identity of persons who report or may be involved with incidents or hazards.

Unless otherwise indicated, duty holders are required to preserve the equipment, products and items involved in an incident. Technical Safety BC will contact duty holders within 24 hours of the next regular business day following the report of an incident if more information is required or an investigation is planned to occur.

Examples of Elevating Devices Hazards and Incidents

Hazards:

Hazards (conditions that could reasonably cause an incident if not corrected) that are to be reported to Technical Safety BC:

  • Missing escalator comb teeth
  • Excessive gaps between step to skirt / step to step
  • Mis-leveled elevators at landings - off-level by more than their normal tolerance
  • Door re-opening devices that are not operational
  • Doors closing with excessive force and speed
  • Safety system/safety devices that have been circumvented

Note: If the above conditions are found during regular maintenance and are under management by the duty holder, they are not reportable.

  • Regulated elevating device work being completed by persons not qualified for the work
  • Unpermitted work or operations

Incidents:

The chart on page 4 describes possible elevating devices incidents that are to be reported, and includes the corrective action(s) required as described below.

Required Action A: The device must be evacuated and shut down immediately and must not be repaired or returned to service without the permission of a provincial safety officer.

Required Action B: The device may be returned to operation only after a physical examination is performed, the cause is identified and the safety feature or device is restored to normal operation in conformity with the applicable requirements.

Examples of Safety Features: governor, comb plate, final limit switch, life jacket, hydraulic pump run timer, rupture valve, primary or secondary braking system, over-speed devices and EPD.

Note: The safety feature examples listed above do not cover all possible components, and are intended only as a guide.

Incidents:

The chart on the following page describes possible elevating devices incidents that are to be reported, and includes the corrective action(s) required as described below.

  • Required Action A: The device must be evacuated and shut down immediately and must not be repaired or returned to service without the permission of a provincial safety officer.
  • Required Action B: The device may be returned to operation only after a physical examination is performed, the cause is identified and the safety feature or device is restored to normal operation in conformity with the applicable requirements.
  • Examples of Safety Features: governor, comb plate, final limit switch, life jacket, hydraulic pump run timer, rupture valve, primary or secondary braking system, over-speed devices and EPD.
  • Note: The safety feature examples listed above do not cover all possible components, and are intended only as a guide.

Examples of reportable incidents:

Required Action

A

Required Action

B

1

Failure of any electrical or mechanical component that results in the loss of control such as:

  • failure to slow or stop
  • unintended motion, over-speeding, reversal of travel (escalators)
  • activation of car / cwt safeties during normal operation

 

 

X

2

Incident as a result of a failure of any safety feature to function as intended (see examples of safety features on prior page)

X

3

Failure or damage of any structural component

X

4

Elevator operating with doors open (beyond the design of the elevator)

X

5

Incident resulting in person(s) trapped within an elevator (cause due to intended or unintended application of the safety device)

 

X

6

Person(s) or clothing becoming pinched or tangled within elevating, escalating or conveyor components

 

X

7

Slips, trips or falls at passenger loading and unloading areas

 

X

8

Flooded machine rooms/space, control room/space, hoistways, or elevator pits which may affect the elevator’s safety systems

 

X

9

Electrical fires in the elevator cab, machine rooms/space, control room/space, hoistways, or elevator pits

      X

10

Any incident, which is due to the use or operation of an elevating device, resulting in injuries that are suspected to have a significant effect on long-term quality of life

 

 X

11

Any incident, which is due to the use or operation of an elevating device, resulting in an injury that is not major or fatal

 

X

 

Note: The examples listed above do not cover all possible scenarios, and are intended only as a guide. If in doubt, report the incident to Technical Safety BC.

Nav Chahal
Manager, Transportation

Jeff Coleman
Provincial Safety Manager, Incident Investigations

References:

Safety Standards Act
Electrical Safety Regulation
Elevating Devices Safety Regulation
Gas Safety Regulation
Power Engineers, Boiler, Pressure Vessel & Refrigeration Safety Regulation
Safety Standards General Regulation
Safety Standards Act Repeal and Transitional Provisions Regulations