ELEVATOR RESCUE
PROCEDURE
SECTION 10
❑ INTRODUCTION
➢ After the Elevator start working and being used by the normal people, it may stop for many reasons such as
faults, power shut down, etc.
➢ The elevator may stop between two floors, and there could be people inside the elevator cabin when its stops, so
they can’t go out in this situation.
➢ In this situation, a trained person should help the people who stuck inside the elevator cabin to go out until the
elevator maintenance team come, and repair the elevator faults and make it works again.
➢ The people inside the cabin can press the emergency alarm button to let the people inside the building know that
there are stuck inside the elevator. Also, they can use the telephone inside the cabin to call the elevator company
or other people inside or outside the elevator building.
➢ If the people inside the elevator cabin try to open the cabin door with their hands, it will not open, and this is so
important for their safety. If the elevator doors can be opened in this situation, the people inside the cabin may
fall down inside the elevator shaft or hurt themselves.
❑ ELEVATORS WITH AUTOMATIC EVACUATION BATTERY
SYSTEM
➢ Some Elevators have Evacuation Battery System, and this system helps to move the elevator to the
nearest floor in case of the main elevator power supply shut down only.
➢ In this case, the emergency battery starts suppling the elevator with power, and then the elevator
start moving up or down to the nearest floor, and after that the elevator doors open automatically,
and let the people go out.
➢ If the elevator stops for other reasons such as faults, the emergency battery will not work, and
someone should interfere and help the people to go out.
➢ If there is an electric generator inside the building, there is no need to add the evacuation battery
system to the elevator as the electric generator will supply all the elevator building with power.
❑ ELEVATOR EVACUATION PROCEDURE
➢ When the elevator stuck between two floors, the evacuation procedure should be
done by the trained person as the following steps:
1. Shut down the elevator main power circuit breaker.
2. Open the elevator machine break manually, and move the elevator to the nearest floor.
3. Open the elevator landing door using emergency evacuation key, and let the passengers inside the
elevator cabin leave the elevator.
4. Close all the elevator doors, and wait for the elevator maintenance technicians to come and
repair the elevator.
1. Shut Down The Elevator Main Power Circuit
Breaker
➢ The first step before starting the elevator evacuation procedure is to shut down the
main circuit breaker inside the machine room which feeds the elevator with power.
➢ This action is very important because if the power comes back during the evacuation
procedure, the person who tries to move the elevator or people inside the elevator
cabin may be hurt .
➢ The main power breaker must stay off until all the people inside the cabin goes out,
and all the elevator doors being closed.
➢ This image shows an example for a three phase circuit breaker at off
position.
The switch must stay off until all
the elevator passengers go out
from the elevator cabin, and all
elevator doors are closed.
2. Opening The Break And Moving The Elevator
➢ The next step is to open the elevator machine break manually by hand.
➢ Each elevator machine has a lever stick which can be pulled, so the machine break will be
released.
➢ Also, there is a driving wheel which can be moved by the other hand while holding the
lever stick with the first hand.
➢ The trained person moves the elevator until he see the marks on the elevator ropes.
These marks indicate that the elevator stops at the same level of the landing door.
This lever stick can be
pulled by a person
hand.
This driving wheel can
be moved with the
other hand.
The trained person should use both hands while moving the elevator up
or down to the nearest landing door. (One hand holds the brake lever
stick and the other hand moves the wheel).
❑ ELEVATOR ROPES MARKS
➢ After the lift operation, the elevator technicians mark the elevator machine ropes using
spray painting or other types of markers.
➢ The elevator technicians move the elevator to each floor, then when the elevator
completely stops, they mark the elevator ropes, then they repeat the same procedure
for all other floors.
➢ This action is necessary because it helps the trained person to know that the elevator
stops at the same level of the elevator landing doors, so he can stop moving the elevator.
This white mark put on
the machine base to
move the ropes marks Ropes Marks (must be
at the same level done for each floor)
The ropes marks only appear when the elevator cabin at the same level of the landing
doors, and if the elevator cabin between floors, these marks will not appear.
3. Open landing door using emergency key, and let the
passengers leave the elevator
➢ After the trained person moved the elevator to the nearest landing door, and assured that by
seeing the rope marks which indicates that the elevator cabin stops at the same level of the
landing door, the next step is to open the landing door and let the passengers leave the elevator
and this be done as the following:
A. The trained person opens the first top landing door, and he tries to locate (by his eyes) where
the elevator cabin is barking, at the first, second or other floors.
B. Then, he goes down to the floor where the elevator cabin is barking at, and he opens the
landing door with the elevator emergency key which should be available only with the
authorized person to use it only in the emergency situations.
C. Finally, the elevator passengers can leave the elevator cabin safely.
➢ This image shows how the elevator door emergency key
looks like.
There are many different designs for the emergency key, but this design is the most well-
known design for most of the elevators companies.
Door Lock
The emergency key insert inside the
landing door lock, then it will be turned to
the right or to the left to open the door
depending on the door lock design.
4. Closing The Elevator Doors And Waiting For The
Maintenance Team
➢ After evacuating all the passengers inside the elevator cabin, the final step is to close all the
elevator doors, and turn on the main elevator power circuit breaker, and see if the elevator
starts working again.
➢ If the elevator doesn’t work, the trained person must call the elevator maintenance team and
wait for them until they come to check the elevator faults which make the elevator stops and fix
it.
➢ To avoid future faults for the elevator, a preventive maintenance should be done in monthly
bases, so the elevator will stay run in best conditions, and the faults will be less as much as
possible.
QUESTIONS:
1. If the elevator has Automatic Evacuation Battey System, does this
System work if the elevator stops because of faults and moves the
elevator to the nearest floor ?
2. What the purpose of white marks on the elevator ropes ?
3. What the emergency door key is used for ?
ANSWERS:
1. No, the Evacuation Battery System works only if the main power of the building is shut of, so
if the elevator stops for other reasons such as faults, this System will not work.
2. The purpose of white marks on the elevator ropes is to help the trained person who wants
to evacuate the people who stuck inside the elevator cabin to know that the elevator cabin at
the same level of the landing door, so he can stop moving the elevator manually.
3. The emergency landing door key is used to open the landing door in emergency situations
and when the elevator technicians want to make maintenance for the elevator.
