Categories: Issue 6/2006

Date: Nov 2, 2006

Title: Escalator Human Factors: Passenger Behaviour, Accidents and Design
Dr. Lutfi Al-Sharif 1)
A general overview is given of passenger safety and accidents on escalators, and how they relate
to engineering design, passenger behaviour and overall management (including operation,
maintenance, inspection and education). The proposed passenger accident triangular model is
presented. It comprises Design, Passenger Behaviour and Management. The interaction between
these three elements is discussed as well as the prevention of accidents by manipulating them. Any
accident is caused by one or more of the factors above, and understanding this is crucial to
eliminating accidents.


Risky passenger behaviour on escalators is discussed in relation to contributing to passenger
accidents. This is based on historical data gathered from observation of passenger behaviour. The
most important hazards on escalators are: Falls on escalators, falls from escalators, entrapments
and crushing inside escalators. These are discussed with examples given on each type of hazard.
Design features that prevent/mitigate each hazard are also discussed.
Escalator management of passenger accidents is crucial to preventing them. The lifecycle of such
a management process is discussed in detail considering each stage in the cycle.
1. Introduction
Passenger accidents on escalators are one of the highest sources of minor injuries today.
Preventing the passenger accidents involves understanding their causes and eliminating or
mitigating such causes.
This paper identifies the causes of passenger accidents and suggests way of eliminating their
contribution.
2. Passenger Accident Escalator Model
The passenger accidents on the escalator are affected by three areas:
The escalator design: Design is used here in its widest sense. It covers the engineering
electrical and mechanical design of the escalator, the environment in which the escalator is
situated (e.g., lighting, exposure to the elements) and its location (e.g., small circulation
landing, limited headroom above).
1.
The escalator maintenance, inspection and operation: The maintenance aspect covers
engineering areas such as the periodic preventative maintenance and remedial works as well
as items such as cleaning (cleaning prevents accumulation of dust and dirt that can lead to
escalator fires). Inspection is necessary (preferable by third parties) to ensure the escalator is
maintained in a safe condition, that all the safety devices are operational and that the
structural integrity of the escalator components are maintained (e.g., nondestructive testing
of steps). It is important to emphasise that operation is an important part of this item,
comprising decisions such as keeping an escalator in service, withdrawing it from service or
running it as a fixed staircase
2.
Passenger behaviour: The way in which a passenger behaves has a significant contribution
to passenger accidents. Passenger behaviour is driven by passenger awareness (short term)
and passenger education (long term).
3.
Each accident when analysed can be related back to any one of the factors above, a combination of
two of them or all three. This is shown in a Venn type of diagram in Figure 1.
Page 1 of 11
Based on the Venn diagram, seven categories of accidents can be identified:
Accidents caused solely by poor design (including location and environment). 1.
Accidents caused solely by poor maintenance, lack of inspection or bad operation. 2.
Accidents caused solely by passenger behaviour. 3.
Accidents caused by the combination of poor design and poor maintenance/
inspection/operation.
4.
Accidents caused by the combination of poor design and passenger behaviour. 5.
Accidents caused by the combination of poor maintenance/inspection/operation and
passenger behaviour.
6.
Accidents caused by a combination of all three factors. 7.
Some examples of these are given below:
Accidents caused by poor maintenance: If for example the over-speed detection/protection
device in an escalator is not maintained or tested properly, this would lead to an overspeed
situation and consequential passenger falls and injuries (regardless of the escalator design or
passenger behaviour).
1.
Accidents caused by poor design and bad passenger behaviour: Some escalators in shopping
centre are located in an atrium with a gap between the two escalators. Teenagers are
sometimes tempted to try to jump from one escalator to the adjacent one. In one case this
has lead to a teenager falling in the gap between the two escalators when trying to jump
from one to the other. Leaving such a gap between the two escalators is an example of poor
design (location in this case), whereby the teenager trying to jump from one escalator to the
next is an example of bad passenger behaviour.
2.
Accidents caused by poor escalator design: The design of the braking system of the
escalator is a compromise between stopping within a specified distance and stopping in a
smooth manner. If this is not designed correctly, harsh stopping of the escalator would lead
to passenger falls (and in some cases to avalanche falls). This is despite the fact that the
escalator might be maintained properly within the design parameters.
3.
What this model emphasises is the fact that preventing passenger accidents involves
addressing all three areas and not just one. There is a limit to what the escalator design can
achieve on its own, and there is a need to address all three areas in order to successfully
reduce or even eliminate accidents.
4.
It is worth noting that passenger behaviour is composed of and it is influenced by two items:
Passenger awareness (immediate): This is the short term awareness of the passenger during
the journey. It is influenced by items such as audible announcements (e.g., hold onto the
handrail) or signs (e.g., fold the baby pushchair). On the other hand passenger concentration
can be distracted by commercial advertising. Thus signage can have a positive as well as a
negative impact on passenger awareness.
1.
Passenger education (long term): this aspect is a long tem aspect and it involves educating
the passenger into the hazards on the escalators and the correct behaviour. An example of
this is an education program that has been running for more than 10 years in the USA,
whereby school children are educated into the correct behaviour on lifts and escalators (The
safe-T rider programme).
2.
Page 2 of 11
As an example of accident prevention models a model for reducing passenger falls on escalators
and mitigating the post fall effects is shown in Figure 2. It shows what can be done to prevent the
fall in the first place and what can then be done to mitigate the post fall injury.
Examples of the design elements that would reduce the risk of falling are reducing the angle of
incline (e.g., 30 degrees is preferable to 35 degrees) and reducing the speed (0.5 m/s is preferable
to 0.75 m/s).
One of the most important items in reducing the probability of passenger falls is ensuring the
escalator stops in a smooth manner (e.g., using intelligent braking systems). This is discussed in
detail in [3].
3. Risky Passenger Behaviour
A study by Human Reliability Associates was carried out for London Underground in May 1993.
The study used a video camera to record passenger behaviour on the escalators. Analysis of the
recordings was used to record passenger risky behaviour [4, 5, 6 and 7].
One of the main findings of the study was to identify main types of risky passenger behaviour, as
shown in Table 1 below.
The types of behaviour above can lead to passenger accidents. For example, reading on an
escalator implies that the passenger is distracted and is not holding onto the handrail, thus
increasing the risk of passenger falls.
4. Hazards on Escalators
The types of injuries on escalators are covered by different scenarios.
Entrapments: These fall into the following categories: entrapment between two consecutive
steps; between the step and the skirt; between the step and the comb; under the handrail or
at the handrail entry point.

Falls (falls from escalator; falls on escalator): Falls could then lead to cuts and bruises,
entrapments or both.

Page 3 of 11
Crushing/shearing by/inside the escalator step-band (e.g., falling inside the machine due to a
step collapse).

Crushing under other passengers.

Fire on escalator.
Electrocution from escalator.
It is worth noting that the condition of over-speed is not considered a risk in itself as it will lead to
one of the above risks.
Some of those risks are discussed in more detail next.
4.1 Escalator Falls
Falls are the highest source of minor injuries on escalators, and of particular importance are the so
-called cascade/ avalanche falls.
In order to reduce the effect on passengers, measures can be taken to:
Prevent the fall in the first place, or
Mitigate the post-fall injury.
It has been shown that 2.5 % of all stops on London Underground escalators lead to a passenger
fall. It has also been recorded that three fatalities in the last 50 years on London Underground
were caused by cascade falls (two of which were football crowd related).
4.1.1 Falls on escalators (including runaway escalators)
Falls on escalator are a major source of injuries for passengers. Passengers fall on escalator for a
number of reasons, such as:
Tripping while walking up or down. 1.
Falling due to the escalator stopping suddenly. 2.
The escalator getting into a runaway situation and over-speeding. As a consequence
passengers fall on each other and end up in a pile at the lower landing of the escalator.
3.
Falling due to the handrail suddenly stopping on an up moving escalator (a passenger
holding onto the handrail would be pulled backwards). In these situations passenger
sometimes get confused and report that the handrail reversed direction.
4.
A piece of luggage falling and hitting a passenger causing him/her to fall. 5.
Misuse of wheelchairs on escalators (a wheelchair user trying to ride the escalator in his/her
wheelchair by holding onto both handrails, and then losing grip causing the wheelchair to
fall and knock off other passengers).
6.
Falling due to the wallpaper illusion: It has been proposed that the visual impact of the step
cleats on passengers coupled with the brightness of the Aluminium3) could lead to the so-
called wallpaper illusion that causes passenger to get disorientated and lose balance [1].
7.
Falls are also dangerous because they can lead to entrapments (a passenger falling on a step tries
to cushion his/her fall by using his/her hands, whereby a finger gets entrapped between the step
and the skirting), as the following example shows:
A five-year-old girl was injured when she fell on a department store escalator in Chubbuck,
Idaho, U.S.A. in late December. She apparently fell backward and caught her hand between the
steps and skirt, losing two fingers. The escalator was dismantled and the fingers were retrieved
and reattached by doctors (Source elenet, 13/1/2005).
Number of flat steps
It is believed that the number of fl at steps at the upper and lower landings has an effect on the risk
of falls. They provide the passenger with time to adjust his/her stance prior to the steps forming.
The European escalator standard, EN 115, requires two fl at steps at each landing (three steps
where the rise is more than 6 m). Public service escalators are specified with five steps at the
upper landing and four steps at the lower landing.
Page 4 of 11
Angle of incline
It is also believed, based on circumstantial evidence4), that increasing the angle of incline increase
the probability of passenger falls.
Mitigating the post fall injury
A number of measures can be taken to mitigate the post fall injury, as follows:
Softer treads would reduce the severity of cuts and bruises. These are usually made of a
certain type of polymer. Polymer treads have been considered on London Underground, but
currently do not meet the fi re code requirements (fl ammability test, smoke and fumes).

The smart-step from Thyssenkrupp addresses this problem (a fi bre glass reinforced polymer
step).

Intermediate landings (wave escalator): The wave escalator is an escalator that has one
intermediate landing formed by a series of fl at moving steps. It is given the name wave
due to its shape.

Avalanche Falls
Avalanche falls are a particularly dangerous example of falls. They take place when one passenger
loses balance and falls, causing a second passenger to fall causing a third passenger to fall and so
on, leading to a human pile at the lower landing of the escalator. Avalanche falls can sometime be
initiated by falling luggage.
Runaway Situations
Runaway situations are one main source of falls on escalators. A runaway situation takes place
when a heavily loaded escalator accelerates downwards exceeding its rated speed and causing a
passenger pile at the lower landing. An example of a runaway situation was the accident at the CN
Tower in Toronto that took place in 1988. The following is an excerpt from the news item in the
press (shown from Elevator World December 1988 below):
Nine children were taken to the hospital after being in a human pile-up on an escalator at the base
of Torontos CN Tower, but were quickly released.
Staff-Sergeant Doug Ecklund of the Metro Police said witnesses reported that the escalator
seemed to accelerate before halting after the emergency stop button was pushed. He said an adult
pushed the button after becoming concerned about congestion at the base of the escalator.
Runaway situations take place when the braking system of the escalator is not properly adjusted
and cannot bring the loaded escalator to rest. When the escalator stops unloaded or lightly loaded,
the friction in the escalator is sufficient to stop it. However, when the escalator is heavily loaded
with passengers (as is the case during rush hours or following major events such as football
matches or concerts) the braking system is unable to stop the loaded escalator when the stop
button is pressed. Passengers are reported as saying: I pressed the stop switch a number of times
but the escalator did not stop! Tests carried out after the accident do not reveal the problem, as
the escalator is stopped with no load on it, and friction is sufficient to bring it to rest.
What happens during a runaway situation is outlined here. A down-moving heavily loaded
escalator is given a command to stop (either by someone pressing the stop switch or by a spurious
safety device trip). The motor is then disconnected from the source of supply by the tripping of the
main contactors. By taking the power away from the motor, the escalator is left to move freely
under gravity. As the braking system is ineffective the escalator and its load start accelerating
downwards. Attempts by passengers to stop it by pressing the stop switch are futile, as the
escalator is already electrically stopped; and is in fact mechanically under gravity. The escalator
accelerates to dangerously high speeds (speeds as high as 2 m/s have been reported). Passengers
get to the lower landing falling on each other and forming a human pile. Once a significant
number of passengers have been thrown off the escalator, the escalator starts slowing down until
it stops under friction.
Page 5 of 11
In cases where the heavily loaded escalator is moving upwards, the escalator slows down to a
standstill and then reverses direction and accelerates downwards in the same sequence of events
discussed above for the case of the down moving escalator.
In certain cases the cause of the runaway is not a defective braking system, but a mechanical
shearing of the top shaft of the escalator. The sequence of events however is similar.
If the problem is not detected by operational staff, what happens sometimes is that the escalator is
left in service (in a stationary condition) following he accident. New passengers arriving find the
escalator stationary and think that it is in service as a fixed staircase. Once enough passengers
board the stationary defective escalator is starts moving downwards under gravity, repeating the
sequence of events above.
The following are examples of runaway incidents:
Toronto CN Tower, December 1988 (down)
MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta, Rapid Transit Authority), Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
Escalators locked off to prevent free-wheeling during crowded conditions (Elevator World
1997).

London Underground, London, United Kingdom, Oxford Circus Station, Escalator number
4, August 1999 (sheared top shaft).

18th January 2000, Nashville International Airport, U.S.A.

Newcastle, England, United Kingdom, Metro escalator, May 1st, 2001 (up).
Newcastle, England, United Kingdom. Metro escalator, February 9th 2002 (down).
London Underground, London, United Kingdom, Waterloo Station, 2002.
Anaheim, California, baseball fans May 7th 2002, 15 passengers with minor injuries
(down).

Coors Field Stadium (Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.) 9/7/2003, 20 injured.

Raffles City Shopping Centre, Singapore, May 2003, (up), 1 person hospitalised.
Escalator reversed direction, Xinzhuang Station, Shanghai, China, number one subway line
(38 people injure) (up).

Handrail initiated falls

The handrail plays in important role in passenger balance and safety. When a handrail slips or
stops it can become a cause of passenger falls, and hence the design of the handrail drive system
must ensure high reliability. The following is an example of a fall caused by a malfunctioning
handrail drive system.
Moorgate Escalator number 2 (London Underground, United Kingdom), 24/9/ 1995: A male
passenger suffered a cut over his left eye and his partner sustained a bruised left ankle when they
fell after the handrail started to move in the opposite direction whilst travelling in the up
direction. Two other passengers fell over but they were not injured.
One protection measure that has been proposed is to detect the speed of the handrail and stop the
escalator in case of handrail slippage or stoppage. A study conducted by London Underground
into handrail caused accidents concluded that it is more effective to improve the traction system
(V-grooved handrail5) than install under-speed handrail detection systems [8]. The study found
that no accidents were recorded on the escalators that were fitted with V-groove profiled handrail.
On escalators fitted with a standard profile handrail one in every three handrail slippages resulted
in a passenger accident (i.e., fall). In this case prevention is definitely better than cure.
4.1.2 Falls from escalators
Another type of fall is falling from escalators. These mainly take place due to the escalator being
located in a void (as is the case in most shopping centres). Due to the height of the fall, the injuries
are usually very severe (death in some cases). Some examples are given below.
A 2-year-old boy playing on the belt of an escalator located in a shopping complex in
Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, fell 10 meters from the fourth to the second floor and died
(June 2004).
Page 6 of 11
A child was caught on video at a Marks & Spencer Store in Belfast/Northern Ireland riding onto
the handrail and then falling into the void.
A nine-year-old boy with a developmental disorder died as a result of a fall from an escalator on
21st September 2002. The incident occurred in a Brooklyn, New York mall.
The handrail on an escalator at a shopping center in the St. Louis suburb of Belleville allegedly
caught a seven-year-old girls clothing as she stood on a second-story balcony. The girl fell at
least 18 feet, sustaining a broken arm and other injuries. The girl was reportedly standing near the
escalator when she leaned over the balcony rail (source: elenet, January 2005).
It is interesting to note that the Norway Technical Regulations under the Planning and Building
Act 1997 has a requirement related to the open spaces next to escalators [9]:
When an escalator is located in an open transit area such that the height of fall may be large, the
possibility of falling from the escalators balustrade shall be prevented.
4.3 Entrapments
By definition an escalator has a moving platform next to stationary components and this gives rise
to the risk of entrapment. Entrapment can affect human limbs, footwear, personal articles, pets
paws and loose clothing. In extreme cases, entrapments can result in amputations.
Entrapments can be prevented by:
Close control of the gaps (step to step, step to skirt, step to comb).
Use of deflector devices (brush-guards, side step insert): These generally discourage
passengers from standing too near to the skirting.

Yellow lines on steps: These also aim to discourage passengers from standing near the step
edge.

Low friction on skirting (this is a code requirement in the U.S.A.): The low friction helps
reduce the probability of entrapment.

Eliminating the step to skirt interface (as in the Otis new-step escalator design).
A Human Reliability Associates study in 1993 for London Underground concluded that the brush
-guard (deflector device) reduced the number of passengers that kept their feet within 2 cm of the
balustrade by 90 %.
4.3 Crushing/shearing inside escalator
One of the extreme accidents that could take place on an escalator is a passenger falling into the
escalator step band due to a missing step or a step collapse. These accidents are rare but have
drastic consequences when they take place. It is thus extremely important that the maintenance
regime regularly checks the structural integrity of the step-band and especially the steps. The
following are some examples of these accidents. Most of them appear to be the result of poor
maintenance and inspection.
Tuesday 7th October 1986 a step collapsed on escalator number 4 at Euston London Underground
Station. The lady standing on that step suffered injuries to her ankle and bruises to her leg and foot
when her leg fell into the escalator as the step collapsed.
A 35-year-old woman was killed at the Brooklyn offi ce building where she worked when an
escalator step collapsed and she was pulled into its machinery. After the stairs had climbed a short
distance, the step on which she stood collapsed, creating a sheer drop. She fell feet first inside the
machinery and was pulled by a conveyor belt inside the machine before it came to a halt. The
same escalator was the site of another accident in 1982 when it suddenly reversed direction as 80
employees on it were returning from a fire drill. Dozens received minor injuries.
The following is an example of an accident caused by poor asset maintenance. It has been reported
that the actual cause of the incident was that one of the travolator pallets (i.e., steps) was removed
from the travolator and the gap hidden under the travolator overnight. Due to a faulty braking
Page 7 of 11
system, the travolator started moving under passenger load and the gap reemerged on the
passenger side.
A British woman died as a result of in juries sustained when the escalator (travolator) on which
she was riding collapsed. The incident occurred at the Tiburtina railway station in Rome. Several
others were injured.
The following example shows how important step structural integrity is to passenger safety. The
other important point in this accident is the lack of knowledge on the passenger side of where the
stop switch was (and probably the bad location and signage of the stop switch by the designer).
In December 1999 Jyotsna, an eight-year-old girl, got crushed to death while descending an
escalator at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The strap of a descending passengers hand
baggage got stuck at the far end of the escalator in the arrival hall. As the passenger tried to pull
the strap out, others kept climbing down. Some of them crowded around to help pull the bag out.
When Jyotsna reached the end of the escalator where the commotion was going on, she tumbled
and fell headlong. Within seconds she was sucked between the plates of the escalator which had
by then been prised open to yank the bag out. The little girl remained stuck up there between the
last step and the floorboard till the machine was shut down, which took about 30 to 35 minutes as
nobody knew how to bring the moving steps to a halt. When she was pulled out, the body was
mutilated beyond recognition.
5. Escalator Management
Escalator management (especially incident management) comprises five stages:
Alarm raised. 1.
Operational decision taken (short term). 2.
Necessary inspection and analysis (short term). 3.
Adjustment to maintenance regime (medium term). 4.
Component modification and re-design (long term). 5.
These stages are discussed in more detail here.
a) Alarm raised.
The first stage is when an alarm is raised. This can take the shape of any of the following:
Accident
Near miss.
Failed component found in service (the component might fail in service without leading to
an accident).

Failed component found during inspections or maintenance.

Management becoming aware of new information.
Sharing of safety critical information between operators (e.g., aviation, railway).
b) Operational decision taken (short term).
Once the asset management team becomes aware of a cause for concern, they need to take swift
action to mitigate against any risk to the public. This can take the form of:
In the most extreme of cases, the asset can be withdrawn from service. This is normally only
taken if a serious risk of injury is present such as step collapse or over-speeding.

They can restrict the operation (e.g., restricting the hours of operation; restricting the
direction of travel especially if the hazard identified is more prominent in one direction of
travel).

High level of staff supervision can be put in place (e.g., operational staff in attendance
around the asset to ensure correct usage).

Passenger awareness measures can be taken, to ensure that passengers follow a certain
behaviour pattern or are aware of the hazard identified. This can be done via signs or
audible announcement (e.g., encouraging passengers to hold onto the handrail).

Page 8 of 11
c) Necessary inspections and analysis (short term). Once the immediate decision has been taken to
mitigate any risks to the public, inspection and analysis are necessary to inform the management
as to the following:
How widespread is the problem within the fleet of assets?
How advanced is the problem where it does exist?
How much time is available for remedial works before a dangerous situation takes place?
Regular inspections will be necessary if the problem is found to be widespread within the fleet.
The frequency of such inspection needs to be tailored to the criticality of the failure, ease of
detection and time taken to failure (e.g., in case of a crack: time between initiation of crack until
full failure). The first pass of inspection will give an idea of the size of the problem. The
frequency of inspections will start to drop as more information becomes available and more
permanent measures are put in place.
Technical analysis of the failure will run in parallel with the inspections. The results from the
analysis can be used to enhance/ adjust the nature/frequency of the inspections as necessary.
d) Adjustment to the maintenance regime (medium term). It is important that the maintenance
regime be adjusted in accordance with the findings of the investigation. This could include
recommendations of extra inspections and checks during routine maintenance. It is also possible
that adjustments to the incident reporting forms/procedures are needed.
e) Component modifications and re-design (long term). The lessons learnt from the incident and
the resulting investigations should then be fed back into component modifications on existing
escalators or revision of the complete design for new escalators.
The issue of public service escalator management and long term planning is discussed in more
detail in [2].
5.1 Balancing the risk of decisions
The five steps outlined above for managing incidents/accidents could apply to any asset/facility
used by the public (e.g., lift, building, railway station, fairground ride).
Risk assessment and common sense has to be used in taking the various decisions and it is
important to always balance the risk resulting from the decision against the risk from the
unsatisfactory asset. For example, withdrawing an asset(s) from service could present more risk to
the public than the perceived risk of a failed component.
It is always important to act swiftly. Once regulatory authorities get involved, things can get very
complicated.
6. Conclusions
Escalator Passenger accidents can be caused by three factors: Escalator design; escalator
maintenance, inspection and operation; and passenger behaviour. The passenger accident model is
based on understanding the effect of three parameters on passenger accidents and addressing them
to reduce/eliminate passenger accidents. Every accident can be attributed to one or a combination
of more than one of these three factors. Merely addressing escalator design is insufficient to
address passenger accidents.
An overview of the main examples of risky passenger behaviour has been discussed, such as
reading while traveling, facing the wrong direction of travel and standing on the wrong side.
The main hazards on escalators are: falls on escalators, falls from escalators, entrapments,
crushing/shearing inside escalator, fire on escalator and electrocution on escalator. The first four
of these have been discussed in detail and examples given.
An escalator accident management model has been presented and comprises five stages: Alarm
raised; operational decision taken; inspection and analysis; adjustment to maintenance and
Page 9 of 11
inspection; and component and general design modifycation. It is important to follow these steps
in dealing with any accident in order to reduce or eliminate accidents.
I strongly believe that there is no such a thing as a freak accident . only an accident waiting to
happen or be prevented!
Acknowledgement
The contents of this paper were first delivered in a lecture to the Lift Technology M.Sc. students at
the University of Northampton during a residential weekend on Friday 28th January 2005.
References and Bibliography
[1] Wallpaper illusion: Cause of disorientation and falls on escalators, Theodore E. Cohn, David
J. Lasley, U.C. Transportation Centre, Perception 1990, Vol. 19, page 573580.
[2] Asset Management of Public Service Escalators, Dr. Lutfi Al-Sharif, Elevator Technology 9
1996.
[3] Intelligent Braking Systems for Public Service Escalators, Dr. Lutfi Al-Sharif, Proceedings
of the 1st International Conference Building Electrical Technology Professional Network
(BETNET) Conference, BETNET 2004, October 2004, Hong Kong, China.
[4] Investigation into the causes of passenger accidents on escalators R93/06 Human Reliability
Associates, May 1993.
[5] Investigation into the causes of passenger accidents on escalators R93/06, Human Reliability
Associates, May 1993: Technical Report number 1: Analysis of Accident data.
[6] Investigation into the causes of passenger accidents on escalators R93/06, Human Reliability
Associates, May 1993: Technical Report number 2: Ergonomic Analysis
[7] Investigation into the causes of passenger accidents on escalators R93/06, Human Reliability
Associates, May 1993: Technical Report number 3: Behavioural Analysis.
[8] Escalator handrail related passenger incidents, Author: Colin Greatrex, LE-RP-5033 A2,
July 1999, London Underground Ltd.
[9] Norway Technical Regulations under the Planning and Building Act 1997, 22 January 1997
No. 33: Regulations concerning requirements for construction works and products for construction
works ( 963:4).
Lutfi Al-Sharif received his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Jordan University in 1987,
his M.Sc. in Automatic Control in 1990 and his Ph.D. in Automatic Control in 1992 from UMIST
(Manchester, United Kingdom).
After working for 17 years in the areas of manufacturing, transport and consultancy he formed the
London based vertical transportation consultancy Al-Sharif VTC Ltd (www.al-sharif.co.uk) in
2002. Dr. Al-Sharif is also currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechatronics
Engineering in the Jordan University, Amman, Jordan.
He is a Corporate Member of the IET, Chartered Electrical Engineer, Co-Author of the CIBSE
Guide D 2005, Vice Chairman of the CIBSE Lift Group, Member of the Executive Team of the
IETs Building Electrical Technology Professional Network and Member of the BSI Sub-
committee MHE 4/3/2. He has more than 30 published papers in the area of vertical transportation
systems.
1) Director, Al-Sharif VTC Limited, London, United Kingdom
2) The standard practice on London Underground is for passengers to stand on the right hand side
and walk on the left hand side.
3) Most escalator steps are of the one piece die cast Aluminium type.
Page 10 of 11
4) It is believed that this was shown to be the case in a Marks & Spence store in Southend-on-Sea
that contains two escalators: one inclined at 35 degrees and the other at 30 degrees. The staff
noticed that there were more falls on the 35 degree escalator. However, no documented evidence
has been found to corroborate this.
5) The V-profile refers to the profile of the handrail and its track, as opposed to plain handrails,
sometimes referred to as C (in reference to eth shape of the handrail.

Page 11 of 11