[Guangming Daily Social Weekly Ping An Frontier Viewpoint]

This summer, elevator injuries occurred frequently. Originally designed to help people save physical strength and improve the quality of life, technology products have repeatedly become "deadly" machines. According to statistics from authoritative departments, there were 49 elevator accidents nationwide in 2014, resulting in 37 deaths. In addition to being amazed and embarrassed, people also have many question marks in their hearts: What is the elevator safety situation in my country? How should we protect our rights when encountering elevator accidents?

1. Four major reasons for frequent accidents

What are the factors that cause the frequent occurrence of elevator safety accidents? According to the introduction of the person in charge of the relevant departments of the Special Equipment Safety Supervision Bureau of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the analysis of relevant media reports, the author believes that in my country, the main reasons for the frequent occurrence of elevator accidents are: four aspects.

First, the safety standards of old elevator brakes are low. The brake is the core device of the elevator, and its safety and reliability are the core factors to ensure the safe operation of the elevator. Before 2003, based on the technical level and economic development level at that time, the safety standards set by the state for elevator brakes were not high. Therefore, the elevators installed before 2003 had the same brake safety performance as elevators installed after 2003. There is a certain gap, which is likely to cause security risks. However, this does not mean that the elevators installed before 2003 were generally unsafe, but it just means that the relevant safety standards have been significantly improved with the progress of society, and the safety performance of the elevators we ride today has made greater progress than before.

 

 

Managers of public places should improve the awareness of elevator safe operation, and carry out timely and effective safety maintenance and daily maintenance of elevators under their jurisdiction. The picture shows that in a shopping mall in Yaohai District, Hefei City, quality supervisors are conducting safety inspections on escalators and explaining elevator safety knowledge to shopping mall staff and customers. Photo by Xie Chen/Guangming Pictures

Second, the use of the elevator door machine system is not standardized, resulting in abnormal opening and closing of the elevator door, resulting in potential safety hazards. In the daily use of the elevator, many users block the elevator door for a long time to carry the goods and keep the elevator open. Such irregular use for a long time will have a great impact on the elevator door machine system, causing the door to open and close or even to jam people. , items and other safety hazards.

Third, long-term overloading can easily lead to elevator accidents. Due to my country's large population, densely populated cities, huge passenger flow in subways, airports and other places, elevators in related places are running at full load or even overloading for a long time, which makes the use frequency and intensity of elevators in my country much higher than those in Europe and the United States, and mechanical aging. , wear, etc. are more prominent, bringing safety hazards to the elevator.

Fourth, elevator management and safety awareness of users are not in place. For example, on July 26, an escalator in a department store in Jingzhou, Hubei devoured a young mother. According to the released video data, before the young mother took the child to take the elevator, the service staff of the shopping mall had already discovered potential safety hazards and nearly cause an accident. However, these service personnel lacked safety awareness and failed to take timely shutdown of the elevator or other precautionary measures, which led to the tragedy, which is really deplorable. In addition, the public also lacks awareness of the common sense of safety in taking elevators, does not know how to save themselves in emergencies, and what is more, lacks social morality. When encountering elevator failures, they do not report in time, but destroy the elevator and vent their emotions. The safe use of elevators brings hidden dangers. The above aspects are the main factors leading to the frequent occurrence of elevator safety accidents in my country.

2. Legally and rationally safeguard their own rights and interests

If there is an elevator safety accident, how should the public protect their legitimate rights and interests? This issue is related to the application of the law, and the general principle is to protect rights rationally in accordance with the law. Because the specific circumstances of each case vary widely, and there is no fixed formula that can be used to solve all the problems, the specific problems should be analyzed in detail when applying the law. The author lists the following situations for reference when defending rights.

First, if the elevator itself has quality problems, resulting in an accident, the victim can claim compensation for all the losses from the responsible parties such as hotels, shopping malls, banks, and stations. According to the provisions of the Tort Liability Law, managers of public places such as hotels, shopping malls, banks, stations, entertainment venues, or organizers of mass activities shall bear tort liability if they fail to fulfill their security obligations and cause damage to others. Therefore, if the public suffers personal injury due to elevator accidents in public places such as hotels, shopping malls, banks, stations, entertainment venues, etc., the managers of these public places can be required to bear the infringement on the grounds that the managers of these public places have not fulfilled their safety guarantee obligations. responsibility. Taking the elevator accident in the Jingzhou Department Store in Hubei as an example, the family of the deceased can fully rely on the provisions of this law to require the mall to assume full liability for damages on the grounds that the mall has not fulfilled its security obligations.

Second, there is a problem with the quality of the elevator. In addition to claiming compensation from the public place manager, consumers can also claim damages from the manufacturer and seller of the elevator. According to the relevant provisions of the Tort Liability Law, the manufacturer shall bear the tort liability if the damage to others is caused by the defect of the product. If the fault of the seller makes the product defective and causes damage to others, the seller shall bear the tort liability. If the damage is caused by the defect of the product, the infringed party may claim compensation from the manufacturer of the product or from the seller of the product. If a product is defective due to the fault of a third party such as a transporter or a warehousing operator, causing damage to others, the producer or seller of the product shall have the right to claim compensation from the third party after making compensation. Therefore, if it is found that there is a problem with the quality of the elevator, the victim can ask the manufacturer and seller of the elevator to bear the tort liability.

Third, in the event of an elevator safety accident, will the relevant responsible person have to compensate for all the losses? This issue should also be analyzed in detail, and the fault of the victim and the responsible person should be comprehensively reviewed. If the victim himself is not at fault for the accident, the responsible person shall bear the full responsibility for compensation; on the contrary, if the victim himself is at fault for the accident, or even intentionally, the victim needs to bear part or all of the responsibility. The law stipulates that if the infringed is also at fault for the damage, the liability of the infringer can be reduced. At the same time, if the damage is caused intentionally by the victim, the perpetrator is not liable. For example, if the elevator fails, the relevant personnel have clearly prohibited taking the elevator, and the victim still insists on taking the elevator. The victim should bear most or even all of the responsibility for the resulting damage.

Fourth, if there is no problem with the elevator itself, and the damage caused by taking the elevator is entirely due to your own reasons, you have no right to ask others to bear the loss. For example, there was a video on the Internet where an adult took two children to a shopping mall. The older child took the elevator to the first floor safely, while the other child, because he was young and ignorant, grabbed the handrail of the elevator. , fell while the elevator was running and was seriously injured. The tragedy happened not because there was a problem with the elevator itself, but because the parents, as guardians of their children, failed to fulfill their guardianship duties. As distressing as the child's experience is, it is often difficult to get support if the situation holds the elevator manager accountable.

3. An ounce of prevention is worth a great deal of remedy

Authoritative data show that the number of elevators in my country has exceeded 3 million units, which is only the statistical data in 2013. With the development of the economy, the number and scale of elevators in my country will become larger. From the perspective of the probability of accidents, the probability of elevator accidents in my country is extremely low. Therefore, the overall situation of elevator safety is good. And in the elevator accidents that have occurred, human factors and management factors are dominant, so the public should have a positive attitude towards the quality and safety performance of elevators in my country.

But it should also be noted that an optimistic attitude cannot replace prudent thinking. Although the overall probability of an elevator accident is less than 1%, once an accident occurs, it is 100% for individuals and families, causing huge damage, and even the loss of life and even life is irreversible. A point of prevention is worth a lot of remediation. In the future, the following aspects should be done to avoid the recurrence of elevator accidents as much as possible.

First, the public should cultivate social morality, have safety awareness, and use elevators reasonably. In particular, according to the daily instructions posted in the elevator car, use the elevator safely and rationally, and do not conduct illegal operations, especially not chasing, playing, or playing in the elevator. It is necessary to learn the common sense of the safe operation of elevators, and when potential safety hazards are found, promptly notify the relevant departments to quickly repair the elevators, ensure the safe operation of elevators, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of themselves and the public.

Second, managers of public places should improve the awareness of safe operation of elevators, carry out timely and effective safety maintenance and daily maintenance of elevators under their jurisdiction, and conduct safety education and training for employees, deal with problems in a timely manner, and deal with them decisively to prevent vicious safety accidents. .

The third is to strictly implement the relevant laws and regulations of the state. Elevators belong to the special equipment stipulated in the Special Equipment Safety Law and the Special Equipment Safety Supervision Regulations. There is a complete set of system design for the supervision of special equipment, laws and regulations. Inspection and testing institutions for special equipment must conscientiously perform their duties in accordance with the law, and the national quality supervision department must implement their supervisory responsibilities, and investigate and deal with violations of laws and regulations to minimize elevator safety hazards and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the public.

my country is a big elevator country with a large population and frequent flow of people. Elevator safety concerns everyone and every family. To maintain the safety of elevators, we should work together to prevent accidents and ensure public safety.