Elevators, escalators and moving walks are the safest form of transportation. Each day in the U.S. and Canada this equipment moves the equivalent of double the entire U.S. and Canadian population - over 210 billion passengers each year. Very few accidents happen and most of these can be avoided.

Escalators came into public use about 1900 and since then have gained wide spread use throughout the world. The escalator was an invention of Jesse Reno in 1897. They are typically used to move high volumes of people relatively short distances. Escalators are found in most modern mass transit stations, airports, shopping centers, department stores and large hotels.

All escalators in the United States are manufactured and installed to be in compliance with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, ASME A17.l. This Safety Code, presently known as the "ASME A17.1 Code", was first published in 1921 and is one of the numerous codes and standards developed and published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) after approval by ANSI as an American National Standard. Hundreds of individuals from all professions are involved in Code making.

The Al7.1 Code Edition is published every 3 years with annual supplements between editions. Official interpretations of rules are also published. The individuals who serve on the Working committees and NIRC are commonly related in some way to the product or equipment involved. In the case of the escalator committee, the members come from diverse situations but have a common thread of escalator knowledge or usage. The diversity of members provides a variety of viewpoints and helps provide universally acceptable language for rules along with a broad overview.

The ASME A17.1 Code requires that elevators and escalators be inspected regularly by specially trained and qualified Inspectors. This is in addition to the regular maintenance that owners commonly contract with various elevator/escalator maintenance companies. Qualified inspectors are usually employees of a state in their department which issues permits for erecting, original acceptance and continued operation of the elevator/escalator equipment. Many Inspectors belong to the National Association of Elevator Safety Authorities (NAESA) and are certified Qualified Elevator Inspectors (Q.E.I.).

While escalators are found in several widths, the typical unit is designed to handle at least 3,000 people per hour. In a typical building, if open 10 hours per day, an average escalator could handle 30,000 people. Normally, there are not that many people involved, but even if each escalator carried only 3,000 people per day, it would approximate 1 million riders per year. There are at least 30,000 escalators in the United States which amounts to over 90 billion riders per year. That means that the escalator industry in the United States moves the entire U.S. population every two days. That is a higher frequency than the entire airline industry.

The escalator industry has an enviable safety record as compared to numerous other methods of transportation or products. The only existing National accident reporting system is maintained by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

However, frequently moving this tremendous volume of people on an electrical, mechanical machine cannot be done without an occasional mishap. Children too young to read and write are sometimes involved. Since the industry has no way to reach children on a consistent basis, the industry joined together to form the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation. It is supported by individuals and companies inside and outside the industry. The sole purpose of the Foundation is contained in its mission statement which is, "To educate the general public on the safe and proper use of elevators, escalators and moving walks through informational programs". The current program will have reached 1,000,000 children, parents and teachers in schools throughout the United States and Canada in the 1996/97 school year. The Foundation is developing a program for educating the elderly in cooperation with the National Safety Council and will be available in late 1996.

The Foundation acknowledges the contributions of Timothy Duin to the above article.