The UH Elevator Shop is responsible for repairs and maintenance on elevators, escalators, dumbwaiters and lifts in all University buildings and facilities.
With more than 90-years of combined elevator maintenance experience, the UH Elevator Shop delivers with the safe and reliable elevator maintenance and repair services around the campus. In other words, this team of eight skilled technicians constantly provides great service and keeps the elevators in excellent condition.
Response Time
“Our in-house elevator crew has an extremely good ability to respond rapidly and make flexible arrangements,” said Mr. Jerry Bogna, Director of Corrective and Preventive Maintenance.
In the case of elevator related emergencies, the elevator technicians have a historical track record of response of one hour or less. This response varies depending on the type of call, what time the call occurs, which is much better than the industry average, where response times are on average 2-3 hours.
For large campus events, such as commencement ceremonies, football games, basketball games, and other events with a high volume of occupants, the Elevator Shop has a technician standing by to respond to emergencies. “We’re on campus every day to help and assist people,” said elevator manager, William Anderson, who has been with the University for 31-years. “Response is one of our biggest concerns. We always try to respond as quickly as possible.”
Maintenance
The State of Texas requires that all elevators undergo a third party inspection and certification on an annual basis. All routine and periodic inspections and tests of the equipment have to be performed by a certified elevator technician and then reported to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).
On behalf of the University, certified elevator inspector and lead elevator mechanic, John Taylor actively assists the Elevator Shop staff to tackle any elevator malfunctions and problems that occur. To become an inspector for the University, Mr. Taylor, who has more than 30-years of elevator maintenance experience, must be qualified as a certified state inspector first.
The Facilities Services team regularly does monthly maintenance to keep elevators operating in a safe and reliable condition at all times. The team responds to all calls in an urgent manner, and any call involving an entrapment, or which involves a building with only a single elevator, the calls are treated as an emergency. The difference being that Emergency calls have precedence over all other work.
Qualification and Training:
Elevator shop supervisor, Roy Guerrero, revealed the level of training and certification required to be an elevator technician
“To become an elevator technician, we must complete a 5-year apprenticeship program. Apprentices get a certain amount of classroom training and a certain amount of on-the-job training,” Mr. Guerrero said. “Afterwards, the state requires elevator technicians to pass an exam to ensure public safety.”
In addition, the technician is required to attend classes for any changes to the Building Code involving elevators, with the certificates of compliance. Also, the University elevator team attends the national conference annually to obtain technical information, update newest technology and discuss elevator issues with other technicians from around the nation.
“UH elevator shop is consistently on the lookout for the opportunity to improve our services with our technology,” said Mr. Bogna.
Elevator Safety
Elevators are safer than taking the stairs. Elevators make 18 billion passenger trips each year in the United States, according to ConsumerWatch.com. (Meanwhile, the entire world population is 7 billion people). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that all those ups and downs result in a yearly average of 27 deaths. Unsurprisingly, those most at risk are the mechanics whose job it is to work on faulty elevators. The Los Angeles Times calculated that the elevator fatality rate is thus 0.00000015 percent per trip overall, and, of course, it's even lower for the general public (https://www.livescience.com/17504-fatal-nyc-accident-elevators-safer-stairs.html)
In the unlikely event you find yourself entrapped on an elevator, here is some important advice:
Remain calm: Elevators have numerous redundant safety devices. It is inconvenient, but you are safe!
Press the call button: a call connects to the UH Police Department (UHPD), then UHPD notifies the Facilities Service Center or the Fire Department. Each elevator has a placard with a car number on it, this will assist UHPD in directing the response.
Sit back, and relax: No matter how quickly building maintenance is called, you will have to wait for them to come and fix the problem. Most wait times are less than 30 minutes.
Never attempt to escape through the hatch, jump or pry open the doors without the help of the building management or a Fire Fighter. Almost all fatalities or serious injuries associated with elevators are caused by the occupant trying to leave the elevator. The safest location for someone entrapped in an elevator is inside the cab.
Know that you won’t free-fall: All elevators are equipped with safety brakes, so the possibility of a free-falling elevator cab is impossible.
Elevator Operations and Proper Use
Hold The Door and 30-second Rule: “Please observe the safety rules for your own benefit and the benefit of others. Don’t take the elevator out of commission,” Mr. Bogna said.
Etiquette tends to dictate that people will normally hold open the elevator door or stand in front of the door so that others may get on the elevator. This is a polite gesture; however, if the door is blocked for 30 seconds or more, the elevator goes into nudge mode, where the door slowly closes regardless of whether or not it is being blocked, thus creating a potential safety hazard. Nudge mode can cause serious injury to people who do not get out of doorway fast enough.
Other elevator safety features include a default shutdown when the elevator senses a problem, usually caused when a door cannot close properly. “It (the elevator) is safety protected. After buzzing 3 times, the elevator will turn the safety feature on, which causes the elevator to shut down. That’s the most common way people get stuck in the elevator,” said Mr. Guerrero.
The safety of the UH campus community IS our top priority. Please report elevators and lifts not functioning properly to the FIXIT Customer Service Center at 713-743-4948. To aid in quickly responding to these calls, please be prepared to identify the building and elevator number.
Click HERE to take a look at our previous Elevator Safety Article.