SPNG would like to give our greatest appreciation to all doctors, nurses, healthcare workers and volunteers who have risked their lives to take care of the patients and everybody’s well being during this COVID-19 outbreak. Your professionalism, dedication and commitment are highly commendable. You are our Heroes.
Thank you and do stay Safe and Healthy !
Yours sincerely,
Ng Swee Peng, Director
On Behalf of SPNG Consultants
Mr Ng Swee Peng was invited by CNA938 – Live Radio to share his expert opinions and thoughts on “Escalator Safety” during “Asia First with Arnold Gay and Yasmin Jonkers” on 14 June 2019 (8.45am to 9.00am). Below is an outline of the sharing session which was edited for clarity:
Radio host asked how often should the escalator be maintained in Singapore.
Mr Ng replied that escalator is maintained on a regular monthly basis. He added that the escalator does not maintain by itself. It requires skilled technician to maintain and oversees the performance of the whole escalator as it is a continuously moving machine which stops only when the safety triggers.
Radio host asked whether they are authorized, well trained and certified service provider.
Mr Ng replied that they have to be authorized and certified but whether the technicians produce their skill sets or have the necessary knowledge to diagnose the escalator fault would probably have to be discussed further in future.
Radio host asked why is there an average of 1 escalator accident a day ; and whether it is due to the unsafe behaviour of the passengers or maintenance issues.
Mr Ng replied that it may be due to the unsafe behavior of the passenger; whilst some may be due to maintenance issues such as safety switches fail to trigger when safety line is activated.
He added that if the safety feature did not function as intended which is to stop the escalator when safety switch triggers, it may lead to incidents such as breaking of steps due to objects stuck in between the two moving steps.
Radio host asked whether we need to do more to make sure that escalator functions as intended or to educate passengers how to use escalator safely.
Mr Ng replied that besides educating passenger on the safe use of escalator, we need to ensure that the escalator service technician knows where the safety switches are located; and know how to diagnose the failure of the switches.
He added that he noticed service technicians tend to perform power reset of the escalator whenever there is a fault without detailed troubleshooting. He highlighted that power resetting is not a permanent solution as the fault will re-surface if it is not rectified.
Radio host asked how passengers should respond in the event of an escalator accident.
Mr Ng replied that passengers or any passer-by may activate the emergency stop switches which are available at the lower and upper decks, and in some escalators, an additional stop switch is available at the middle of the escalator whenever they encounter an escalator accident.
A radio listener asked whether it is feasible to install obstruction bars at the entrance of the escalator so as to stop passengers from pushing in strollers, prams and luggage into the escalator.
Mr Ng replied that though it may deter passengers from bringing in strollers, prams and luggage into the escalator, it may indirectly slow down the traffic flow of passenger entering and exiting the escalator.
Another radio listener asked what is the maximum load that we should take note.
Mr Ng replied that it depends on the rated capacity of the step as different step widths have different load requirements. Generally, it is safe to say that it allows 1 passenger per step.
He added that that passengers can ride the escalator in either directions; and he recommends the escalator to switch its travelling direction on a bi-monthly basis so as to improve the escalator operation and reliability.
Radio host asked what advice does he give to his students during his lecture.
Mr Ng replied that he described riding an escalator is like riding a motorbike as it is not in a covered vehicle. Passengers must consciously be aware of the environment variables and escalator’s moving objects ; and to take safety precaution when riding an escalator. He also told his students that they must ensure that service technicians do their due diligence to ensure the safety of the escalators such as maintaining the safety switches and ensuring the functionality of the switches at all times.
We participated in the world elevator congress held in Langfang, China. International authorities and experts shared various lift and escalator code standards ; and regulations adopted in Asia-Pacific and America. Other topics such as lift operation during emergency evacuation and artificial intelligence were also presented. We would like to thank all the speakers for their knowledge sharing which have benefited all of us.
We participated in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Elevator Engineering And Safety Development Forum 2019 held in Langfang, China on 24th April 2019. It was a fruitful sharing session with experts, discussing topics pertaining to lift safety, latest add-ons to support the safety requirements and the practical approaches to resolve lift breakdowns. We also shared many common views particularly on artificial intelligence (AI) vs human approach in identifying the causes of lift breakdowns.
In short, a good knowledge of elevators both theoretical and practical are essential requirements to resolve lift issues. For AI to be able to identify the root cause of lift breakdown, a substantial amount of data that matches the profile of the defective lift is required. Lifts with similar specifications may have different types of lift faults. The smooth operation of the lift system depends, not just on the electronic and control operation, but also on the proper installation of the lift. If the AI programmer does not have the required experience in interpreting the lift faults, the AI system may not be programmed correctly. This may lead to inaccurate lift diagnosis. Lift diagnosis cannot be solely determined by the frequency or probability of lift faults. Detailed engineering is required to identify the fault and solution to support the diagnosis.
Though a well programmed AI system is a good aid to support lift diagnosis, engineers and specialists cannot forgo the basics of engineering troubleshooting. With or without AI, they still need to have the necessary experience in handling lift breakdown through fundamental engineering methods such as analyzing the circuit system diagram and/or mechanical system ; and practical experience in troubleshooting through real time lift faults.
We are recruiting lift and escalator inspectors to join us as part of our business expansion.
Roles and Responsibilities:
You shall be part of our inspection team!
Requirements:
If you are interested, please send your resume to careers@spngconsultants.com. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified for an interview.
Just like a human, we may have a fever when we are not feeling well. A lift shall breakdown when it faces technical issues such as triggering of safety circuit may lead to both electrical and/or mechanical tripping of the system. If a lift fails to shut down its operation and continues to run with hidden technical issues, it may lead to unsafe operation of the lifts.
Notwithstanding this, it does not mean that regular breakdown is a normal lift symptom. Thorough investigation is required to determine the causes of its breakdown. We do not think that by merely resetting the lift controller will solve the technical issues. In our opinion, it may just be an action to erase the fault in the lift program which may still arise if the source of the technical issue is not identified and/or rectified. We advise lift service maintenance personnel to identify the source of the problem instead of frequent resetting the lift system.
If the lift continues to breakdown after rectification by lift contractor, building owner or managing agent may contact us for a comprehensive approach to resolve the lift breakdown issues.
A video sharing into the life of a lift service technician / specialist. – Courtesy of Channelnewsasia
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We were one of the 78 delegates in 11 countries who participated in the 8th Symposium on Lift and Escalator Technologies, held in Hong Kong from 15 – 16th May 2018. It was a great opportunity for us to learn from the best engineering practices and technologies globally as well as sharing our experiences and opinions on how we can raise the lift & escalator industry standards that comprise both safety and traffic management including engineering design, equipment maintenance and passenger operation. We would like to thank the Lift & Escalator Symposium Committee and the host city for their efforts to organise the event.
An article of the symposium was also featured in the “Elevator World” magazine in August 2018, Page(s) 158-160.
Above photos were taken with courtesy of 8th Symposium on Lift and Escalator Technologies
We conducted networking and recruitment sessions on 18 May 2018 and 22 May 2018 at NTU GradRecruit 2018. It was a “Non Traditional” form of recruitment as we shared how we can create jobs through innovation and entrepreneurship. We also shared how we can bring our engineering dreams to reality by adopting practical approaches to realize our dreams in steps. Through these sessions, we hope to inspire engineers to join us to make a difference in improving people’s lives or providing solutions to engineering problems through their engineering passion in creating a solution.
Lastly, we thanked all fellow NTU graduates for your interest in our company and we will be contacting you shortly via email.
