KUALA LUMPUR: The recent incident in which a lift came crashing down at a People’s Housing Project (PPR) is said to have been caused by a system’s malfunction.
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said that an investigation was carried out by the Department of Occupational Health and Safety (DOSH). Its report stated that damage to one of the components in the lift was the cause of the system’s brake malfunction.
“One of the reasons the emergency brake system malfunctioned was because of the heavy load in the elevator,“ he said at a DBKL press conference today.
On the day of the incident, Khalid said that the brake ceased to function because one of its components called a ‘plunger’, which is located on the inside of the coil wire (solenoid), had corroded.
Khalid also said that the elevator was moving at the speed of 2.13m per second before it crashed and that the emergency brake system is programmed to kick in when the lift is running at a rate of 2.18m per second.
DOSH investigations confirmed that elevator maintenance was conducted weekly and that the last inspection was carried out a week before the incident.
However, Khalid revealed that the DOSH investigation also found that the coil wire had not been changed in the past 12 years.
Further investigations will be carried out by DOSH to study the functions of the plunger and how the solenoid from Korea works. The department also intends to attain additional information on the elevator’s characteristics.
“No action has been taken thus far considering the report from DOSH that the contractors have been performing maintenance works according to schedules,“ Khalid stated. However, DOSH may take legal action if the need arises, once further investigations into the incident are completed.
In the incident which took place on Aug 2, eight people sustained injuries after the lift they were in malfunctioned and plunged from the fifth floor of a building in the PPR at Kampung Kerinchi, Kuala Lumpur.
