Posted By steve g Had an issue today ,a trade union elected safety rep went to a care home of which i am responsible for the companies health and safety apparently the lock off isolator was too high even though we had an engineer of theirs check before installation,therefore we advised there was no requirement to move it as a safety mat and pupose built ladder was available to lock off however the safety rep recommended lowering the switch to enable isolation from standing on floor level ,however i advised this could not be achieved easily as residents walking around the home could potentially isolate the lift carriage whilst the lift was in use any ideas welcomed on this steve

Posted By Bob Shillabeer Am I reading this correctly? The lock off is to isolate the lift, if so why would anyone other than amaintenance engineer need to operate the lock off? Why have it in a position that anyone can operate it? I don't know of anyone having access to such a devise in relation to operating the lift in normal working conditions. Tell the rep that it is too costly to have it moved into a position whereby anyone can have access to it resulting in interference and say NO.

Posted By steve g hi yes the problem is the elected safety rep is also the lift engineer ,however i had the head of health and safety down as i did not agree and he agrees with us but wants to tread careful mmmm not sure what to say about that! the lift company will locate at no cost to us im told, i have now sugested that if they want it lower they provide a lockable cabinet to put it in of which the key will be with the person in charge of the building and unlocked when the maintenance person calls,seems a bit ott to me perhaps he dont like steps! steve

Posted By A Campbell Hi Steve, Maybe is view is to avoid working at height by placing the switch lower? I'd expect access would be limited to throwing a switch/locking off .. time minimal, once every 6 months or infrequent breakdowns?

Posted By steve g hi all yes it is a wheelchair and persons lift in a care home,they did not want the isolator in the lift motor room as they wanted to lock off before getting to the motor room,at present the isolator is at 6ft 4ish and isolates power to the lift and switch assembly leaving only power to the in room lighting,for maintenance and testing purposes

Posted By Colin Shouldn't the isolator be accessible in order to assure the safety of personnel carrying out maintenance? Colin.