Rank: Super forum user 
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Hello all, I am looking for some examples of how those of you with passenger lifts in your premises organise the rescue of persons trapped if the lift fails. My understanding is the Fire and Rescue service will not attend unless persons are injured and that occupiers are responsible for organising their own lift rescue in accordance with Regulation 5(1)(d) of LOLER.
I know that one option is to have a contractor on call, but there would have to be a guarantee that they would attend swiftly. How would we go about arranging training of staff to carry out the rescue? (I think our lift inspectors do this but wonder if there may be a less expensive option)
All replies gratefully received.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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The main content of 'lift rescue' training is to say "don't". Leave them there until the lift maintenance contractor turns up. The majority of injuries and fatalities arising out of stuck lifts are when people try and effect a rescue.
We have three trained members of staff who have been trained to do rescues. However, our policy is:
1: Contact the trapped person, reassure them
2: Switch it off and on again
3: Call out contractor
4: Only if ESSENTIAL (eg, the trapped person goes into labour or has a heart attack or something) then we will do a 'rescue'.
The main benefit of the training, as I see it, is to give the trained people the confidence and authority to stop anyone trying to do a rescue.
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Rank: Forum user
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Achrn, "Switch it off and on again"??
After serving for many years as a lift engineer I can tell you that the last thing you should do is turn it off and on again, firstly the lifts diagnostic board will tell you the reason why the lift has broken down, by just switching off the lift that data will be lost, and secondly without checking everything is clear in the lift shaft for the lift to move you could well cause an accident.
Keep the trapped person calm and informed of what you are doing, then contact the lift company you have your service contract with, let the professionals take care of the situation
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Rank: Super forum user 
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achrn wrote:
4: Only if ESSENTIAL (eg, the trapped person goes into labour or has a heart attack or something) then we will do a 'rescue'.
You're all heart!
Wouldn't it be a bit late, to pfaff around and start to effect a rescue from a stuck lift when one of the occupants has had a heart attack?
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Rank: Super forum user
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Ian.Blenkharn wrote:
Wouldn't it be a bit late, to pfaff around and start to effect a rescue from a stuck lift when one of the occupants has had a heart attack?
Probably, yes.
But if they don't have a heart attack, leaving them in the lift is less likely to kill them than trying to extract them. Which is the point of my comment - in general, don't try to effect a lift 'rescue' unless there's a immediate need (not just desire by the trapped person) to do so. Being trapped in a lift won't kill you, but falling down a lift shaft probably will, as will being crushed by a lift that starts to move as you crawl through the innards, as will a number of other ways to go none of which can happen if you just stay put in the lift car.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Lift rescue is not the correct term if the occupants are safely inside the car and not trapped by machinery, door/s etc.
A rescue would only be required if an engineer for example was working on top of or below the lift car and got trapped by something.
If a lift is stuck between floors there is always a method of moving the car up or down, if hydraulic it is very simple but if electrically powered can be very technical and involving isolating the power, releasing the brakes and winding by hand inside the lift motor room.
My advice would be to read the instructions provided by the manufacturer/installer of the lift and follow their guidance.
Whatever the instructions do not say you don't even think about doing.
If an engineer is trapped by machinery the frs need to be called - they will attend as long as you tell them the urgency of the situation.
I have removed many people from stuck lift cars, some through the doors onto the landing, some through the hatch at the top of the car and others by hand winding to the floor then via the doors.
One electric lift was stuck simply because the occupant tried to open the door while the lift was still moving. All that needed was for the door to be closed properly and the lift started up itself.
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Rank: Forum user
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This has been raised before on a number of occasions, I prefer to use the word release rather than rescue as that can imply that someone is trapped by the mechanism.
Others have also made this comment
On my campus we had over 30 lifts which were in use 24/7 and it was simply not practicable to call out lift engineers on every occasion that a lift got “stuck”.
Our lift contractor was on site during the normal working week (about 40 hours) and for the remainder of the time had trained a number of our own staff to carry out releases.
I should add that after the release they isolated the lift until the lift contractor was next on site.
From my own experience it is a relatively simple process to carry out most releases provided the training has been carried out by a competent person.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Thank you for the replies so far. Yes, I did mean release as oppossed to resue.
I don't think our lift contractor is actually retained to come out and do this but will follow it up with our facilities people.
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