What should be inspected during the daily start-up and shutdown of escalators?
When starting up and shutting down escalators in your facility, an inspection should be performed to ensure it’s in good working order. These daily inspections will detect any issues early on, helping to protect patrons from injury and preserving the condition of the asset.
Here are some sample things your team should look for during escalator inspections:
- The approach / walk-on, walk-off areas where passengers mount and dismount (landing / comb-plate) are clear of obstruction
- Functioning start / stop button
- Stopping distance of escalator
- Landing / combplate and step edges are painted yellow for accessibility
- Adequate lighting
- Adequate and consistent escalator speed
- Handrail speed and condition of handrails. Look for cracks and pinch points; handrail speed should match step speed
- Steps and skirt panel are free from obstruction and are in good condition (i.e., no broken teeth on steps)
- Unusual noises and vibrations
- Good overall housekeeping
- Ensure all maintenance and inspections are documented; maintain record of training
Digital inspection tools can elevate your team’s escalator inspections.
How?
➡️ Staff are provided with a detailed overview of the remaining escalators, helping to ensure that none are overlooked.
➡️ Staff receive tailored questions and/or on-the-spot information about the inspection, decreasing the risk of something being missed or forgotten.
➡️ Notes and photos can be added to inspection reports, and if any issues are found, the right people are automatically looped in, enabling speedy remediation.
➡️ Managers can stay on top of their facility’s escalator inspections by using a dashboard and analytics to see an overview of inspection statuses including prompts for annual inspections performed by service technicians outlined in the service contract.
➡️ Inspections are recorded. Records are date and time-stamped; they include who the inspection was performed by, and if any deficiencies were found. Reports are stored electronically in an organized and easy to retrieve format.
➡️ Inspection data is used to generate powerful analytics such as peak months for incidents, trends in malfunctions, upcoming service dates, and other information that will help you forecast where resources are needed; this also helps with capital planning.