Firm fined for lift maintenance failure

A London property management agency has been prosecuted by a local authority for failing to maintain lifts at two commercial buildings. The firm pleaded guilty to breaching section 3 of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,338.

In October 2006, City of London’s environmental services received two statutory reports from an insurance firm that had carried out inspections on lifts at two properties managed by the agency. The reports noted that defects on both lifts, which had been highlighted during a previous inspection, had not been rectified, with the condition of both lifts having deteriorated further since that time.

The previous inspection had been carried out six months earlier and noted that one of the lift’s had a splintered gear rope, which would prevent the lift from locking if the main rope was broken. The other lift had a mechanical failure to an exterior landing door that was located on the fourth floor. This meant that the exterior doors could be manually opened and would allow direct access to the lift shaft.

Inspectors began their investigation in January 2007 and found that the firm had failed to carry out regular bi-annual inspections between 2005 and 2007. Investigators also discovered that the company had notified its contractors about defects found during inspections in March and April 2005, but had failed to check if these repairs had been carried out.