Is the heightened concern about escalator safety warranted? asks Michael Woods, Principal Operations Specialist at RSSB.
A lot of work has been done in recent years to reduce slips, trips, and falls, which have long been a major part of our industry’s risk profile. We’ve improved the surfaces people walk on, cut the contaminants, like rainwater and pigeon droppings, and managed our cleaning activities better.
At the same time, the increasing number of retail and hospitality outlets in stations could lead some to believe this good work is being undone. Stations now have many coffee shops, for instance, and people tend to rush about, often while looking at their mobile phones, which increases the risk of spills, then slips and falls.
Stairs and escalators are particular risk areas. Passenger flows over escalators are very large indeed. Apparently, one-in-six rail journeys in Great Britain are now via the Elizabeth Line, which means that each journey in its core section involves using on average four long escalators. At first, there were reports of people being overwhelmed by the scale and architectural merit of the new stations, so some were toppling over as they looked up. Thankfully, that soon wore off, only to be replaced with reports of people – probably unfamiliar with escalators – catching their feet in the brushes or ‘skirt deflectors’.
RSSB’s research on safer escalators in public places was published in 2014 and looked at the hazards of using escalators, existing guidance, passenger behaviour, escalators when used as stairs, escalator tread markings, and other significant and design issues.
The report concluded that is not a good idea to use escalators as fixed stairs for long periods, or for large numbers of people. It’s tempting when they’ve broken down, but the spacing of each step can cause more falls. Yet where lifts or alternative routes are provided, they’re often inadequately signed or ignored by people who think they’re slower. In addition, escalators are not ideal for people with heavy luggage or walking difficulties, so the use of alternative routes should be encouraged.
RSSB statistics, meanwhile, show how many escalator accidents occur per million passenger journeys in each year, taking into account the large drop in rail journeys due to Covid-19. There were, sadly, two fatalities in 2018/19 and 2021/22, at London Waterloo and London Victoria, respectively. The proportion of severe accidents have remained relatively stable, and the non-severe ones show a certain amount of fluctuation but no measurable trend.
What can station staff do to help? Well, it’s not about fancy markings or colours, or reduced escalator speeds. There are no measurable benefits from a reduced escalator speed as it increases congestion and delays customers. The best thing you can do is direct people to alternative routes when needed and report all incidents so that trends and causes can be monitored, analysed and understood.
Stations have many coffee shops, and people tend to rush about, often while looking at their mobile, which increases the risk of spills, then slips and falls.
Our research on safer stairs and escalators in public places sought to cut the number and severity of accidents by examining the causes of accidents and applying lessons learned to the management of premises.
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This article was first published in the July edition of RSSB’s magazine Horizon.
