BEIJING – China is considering launching an escalator and elevator recall system after a 13-year-old boy died July 5 due to an escalator malfunctioning, the Beijing News reported Wednesday.
The country plans to enshrine the recall rule in the Law of the Special Equipment Safety that is being drawn up, the newspaper quoted an official with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) as saying.
Two thirds of escalator and elevator accidents are due to inadequate maintenance, bad management and false operation. Only one third of the accidents are caused by passenger fault, according to data from the country’s quality watchdog.
The launch of the recall system is expected to help guarantee the safe operation of the country’s escalators and elevators, the unnamed official said.
China has become the world’s largest user of elevators and escalators, maintaining 1.63 million in service, and the number is increasing by 20 percent every year.
The country launched a nationwide safety-check campaign after an ascending escalator on Beijing subway Line 4, an Otis 513 MPE, suddenly reversed, which resulted in the death of a boy and 30 others injured.
At the end of July, the country’s quality watchdogs had inspected 231,306 escalators and elevators and found 11,896 have potential safety problems, the AQSIQ said.