Today marks the last day of National Elevator and Escalator Safety Week.

Each year, hundreds of people suffer injuries while riding on elevators, escalators and moving walkways – not because of equipment problems, but because they did not follow simple safety precautions.

In an effort to reduce these unnecessary accidents, the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation (EESF) declared the second full week in November National Elevator and Escalator Safety Week.  During this time, the organization conducts a national campaign to educate children on the proper safety steps they should follow while on this kind of equipment.  Fujitec has been participating in this event since its inception 12 years ago.

The week-long event features opportunities for children from local schools to learn safe practices while riding vertical transportation equipment.  This year, close to 300 children from Clinton Massie, Lebanon Christian, St. Francis DeSales and other schools attended. 
During their visit, the kids got a close-up look at the inner workings of an escalator and Talon, as well as the opportunity to look into an elevator hoistway from an observation area. The highlight for most of the kids is traveling to the fifteenth floor of the R&D tower.

“We target our program to second graders because they are eager to act independent from their parents, but still need to learn a lot of the rules of society,” said Vic Harada, Chief Operating Officer at the North American headquarters.  “It always amazes us all in terms of their attention to the class and eagerness to earn respect through obeying the rules they learn.”

Children younger than 14 years old are the most at-risk group to experience avoidable incidents and accidents.  The EESF initiated the National Elevator Escalator Safety Awareness Week to acquaint school-age children with safe riding skills on elevators and escalators, just in time for the holidays when many children visit shopping malls and other high-traffic areas. 

“Every year we have made sure to accommodate every school that is interested in participating," said Michele Phelps, director of marketing. "This year that meant hosting schools in the morning and afternoon. Our hope is that the children who go through the program will set a good example for their family members and friends," said Phelps.

Following these safety rules can prevent many serious injuries:

ELEVATORS
• Enter and exit carefully. Step up or down if elevator floor and hall floor are not level with one another.
• Watch out for closing doors. Do not touch closing doors or try to stop them from closing.
• Do not overload. Be aware of an elevator’s capacity limit.
• If the doors do not open when the elevator stops, ring the alarm button and wait. Never force the doors open or try to exit!
• In case of fire, never use the elevator. Use the stairs.

ESCALATORS AND MOVING WALKS
• Step on and off with care.
• Passengers only on escalators; no strollers, walkers or carts of any type.
• Always stand facing forward.
• Pay close attention and attend to small children.
• Hold on to the handrails and avoid the sides under the rail.
• Move quickly away from exit areas.
• On moving walks, stationary passengers should stay to the right and let walking passengers pass on the left.

This year marks the 12th consecutive year that Fujitec America has participated in this event.

Fujitec America, a leading manufacturer of elevator, escalator and moving walkway systems, began operations in 1977 and now includes 15 sales and service offices throughout the United States. Fujitec Co., Ltd., the parent company, was founded in Osaka, Japan in 1948. Fujitec’s worldwide organization currently includes 12 manufacturing facilities, four research and development centers and numerous sales offices located throughout the world.