Elevator, Lift and Escalator Safety: The Layers and the Rider Rules

Most people step into an elevator or onto an escalator without a second thought, and a few carry a quiet worry about what would happen if something went wrong. This page covers both halves of the answer. First, the layers of protection built into the machine, from door locks to brakes to the emergency phone. Second, what regulators and industry bodies tell riders to do, including on escalators. It is educational only, and the exact rules differ by jurisdiction, so the local authority and qualified professionals always have the final word.

Safety is built in layers

An elevator is not protected by one clever device. It is protected by several systems that each assume the others might fail, which is the core idea behind the codes that govern them. In North America the main rulebook is the ASME A17.1/CSA B44 Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, and a trade group, the National Elevator Industry, Inc. (NEII), says the 2000 edition was the first harmonized one to cover new installations in both countries.

A few terms first. The car is the box you ride in. The hoistway is the vertical shaft the car travels in. A landing is a floor where the car can stop and the doors open. With those words in hand, the layers are easier to follow, and you can read the longer machine explanation on how elevators and lifts work.

Door interlocks and door restrictors

The most important protection for riders is also the least visible: keeping the car from moving while a door is open, and keeping a hoistway door from opening when no car is there. NEII says basic protections against an elevator moving with its doors open have existed since the 1920s. These simple electromechanical systems are called interlocks in later codes, and NEII says they exist on virtually all elevators in operation in the United States today.

Later editions tightened the rules. The 1980 edition of ASME A17.1 added a provision to lock the car doors, called a door restrictor, when the car is more than 18 inches above or below the floor, a distance NEII says was recently changed to 7 inches. For older equipment that predates modern features, NEII points to ASME A17.3, the safety code for existing elevators and escalators, which includes door restrictors and a ban on running the machine with passengers aboard and the doors open.

Ropes, the governor and the safeties

A traction elevator hangs from steel ropes, which the industry often calls cables, that loop over a grooved wheel called a sheave. HowStuffWorks, a general science publisher, says almost all of these elevators use between four and eight ropes, that the remaining ropes would hold the car if one snapped, and that one rope is usually enough on its own. We cover the myth in detail on the cable-snap and free-fall myths page.

Suppose every rope did fail. The next layer is the safety gear, braking devices on the car that grab the guide rails running up the hoistway. The same source describes two types, one that clamps the rails and one that drives a wedge into notches, and says they are typically triggered by a mechanical speed governor. The governor is a pulley that turns as the car moves; if it spins too fast, centrifugal force sets off the braking system. The idea is old, and our short history of the elevator tells how the first safety catch convinced a skeptical public.

Brakes and buffers

The machine that drives the car has its own brake, and modern codes add another. NEII says that elevators installed under the 2000 and later editions of the code contain four features against unintended car movement with the doors open. These are a means to detect that movement and stop the car, an independent secondary emergency brake, application of that brake when a loss of power is detected, and a rule that the brake must be manually reset before the car can run again. That last point matters. It means a qualified elevator mechanic has to diagnose and correct the problem before the elevator returns to service.

At the very bottom of the hoistway sits a buffer, a shock absorber that cushions the car if it travels past the lowest landing. HowStuffWorks says most cable elevators have one, typically a piston in an oil-filled cylinder. New York City's Department of Buildings lists buffers, interlocks, governors and brakes together as safety components of an elevator assembly, and ties the first two to listing and labeling under ASME A17.1 type tests, while governors and brakes are accepted through field testing of the installed component.

Alarm, phone and emergency power

The last machine layer is how a trapped passenger reaches help. The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services explains the history on its public elevator page. Wisconsin's 1926 code was the first there to require automatic elevators to have an alarm bell. By 1976 new elevators needed two-way voice communication as well, because a bell cannot say who is stuck, where, or how serious it is.

Under the current requirements the department summarizes, the emergency device works with one push button, must give the answering party the building and elevator location, and must redirect the call to another location if authorized personnel are not reached within 45 seconds. Where the system depends on commercial power, it must switch to an alternate source that can run the communication system for at least 4 hours, and elevators must verify automatically, at least daily, that the two-way voice link works. The department adds that voice contact can give passengers information that helps prevent a dangerous or even fatal attempt at self-rescue. Lighting inside the car is also regulated, but we have not verified a citable statement of those rules, so we leave the details to the code.

Why redundancy only works if it is maintained

Every layer above can degrade. Ropes wear, brakes need adjustment, and door locks collect dirt. NEII states it plainly: elevators must be inspected and maintained regularly so that safety features stay functional, and the ASME A17.1/CSA B44 code prescribes regular maintenance and periodic testing and inspection for all elevators. Success, in its words, relies on owners who retain adequate maintenance, technicians proficient in their work, and jurisdictions that require qualified inspectors. NEII also says that accidents can still occur despite these measures. That sentence is worth keeping in mind: the layers reduce risk a great deal, and nothing removes it. Read more on inspection, maintenance and regulation.

On overall risk, NEII says elevators are one of the safest forms of transportation and cites more than 18 billion passenger trips a year in the United States alone. That is an industry association's own statement in a 2019 release, so read it as the industry's position and not as an independent statistic.

Rider safety in the elevator

Riders form the final layer. The guidance from public regulators is consistent and mostly common sense. Technical Safety BC, a Canadian safety regulator, tells riders to stand clear of the doors and let passengers exit first, to hold the door with the door-open button for someone rushing in, and to watch their footing at the gap between the car and the floor.

Leveling matters too. The New York City Department of Buildings advises riders to check that the car is level with the floor, and says: "Do not exit the elevator if it stops more than 9 inches from the landing." It also says to use the door-open button instead of your body to hold the doors, to keep ties and scarves away from closing doors, and not to overcrowd the car or jump inside it, since either can leave the car uneven with the floor or cause it to stop. In a fire, the same page says to use the stairs and never the elevator.

Children and the door gap

One hazard deserves its own section because the consequences are severe. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) describes a gap that can exist between the outer landing door and the inner car door or gate of some residential elevators. In a 2022 announcement, the agency said young children can be caught in that gap and seriously injured or killed if the elevator is called to another floor. It reported that three children were entrapped this way in the summer of 2021, one of them a seven-year-old boy who died in a vacation rental home in North Carolina.

The CPSC reported that three manufacturers recalled about 69,000 residential elevators. Its advice to consumers included checking whether the gap is four inches deep or less, locking the elevator out of use or locking access doors if unsure, and having a qualified inspector review the installation against ASME A17.3-2017. This is a hazard report from a public body, not a how-to, and anyone with a home elevator should follow the agency's current recall pages. Our page on residential elevators and home lifts describes how these machines differ from commercial ones.

Escalator safety

Escalators have no doors, no hoistway and no car, so their risks look different: falls, and clothing or footwear caught at the edges of the steps. The CPSC estimated that there were approximately 11,000 escalator-related injuries in 2007 in the United States. In the same May 2008 release, it said most of these injuries are falls, while about 10 percent occur when hands, feet or shoes are trapped in the escalator. It also said it was aware of 77 entrapment incidents since January 2006, with about half resulting in injury. These are the agency's own estimates for that period and place, and should not be read as current counts.

The advice from the CPSC, Technical Safety BC and New York City lines up well. Tie your shoes before stepping on. Soft-sided footwear was the focus of the CPSC release, which said such shoes were more likely than others to be caught. Stand in the center of the step, keep your feet away from the sides, face forward and hold the handrail, especially when stepping on and off. Secure loose clothing, laces and accessories so they cannot catch. Step off promptly at the end of the ride.

For children and equipment, the CPSC says to hold children's hands, not to let them sit or play on the steps, and not to bring strollers, walkers or carts onto an escalator. Technical Safety BC says to ensure children stand in the center, facing forward, and to hold the hand of a child too small to grip the rail. The CPSC also says to learn where the emergency stop buttons are, which are usually at the top and bottom of each escalator. How the machine works, including its steps and handrails, is covered on how escalators and moving walks work.

If something goes wrong

If an elevator stops, the guidance from every source above is the same: stay inside, use the alarm or emergency phone, and wait for trained help. Never try to pry doors or climb out. The page on what to do if you are stuck in an elevator goes through the steps. In any emergency, contact emergency services and the building's emergency phone.

The short version

Elevator safety rests on layers: door interlocks, ropes, governor and safety gear, brakes, buffers and a two-way emergency phone, kept working by regular inspection and maintenance. Riders add their own layer by watching the gap and leveling, not forcing doors, and following escalator basics such as tied shoes, a firm handrail grip and close supervision of children. Rules and enforcement differ by jurisdiction, so rely on the local authority and qualified professionals for anything specific.