Policy for reducing calls to person shut in lift

[xan]

Repeat offenders who do nothing,and inconveneience to those trapped.Brigades are looking at ways to reduce calls,to free up time for other activities, and reduce cost.If a retained appliance* turns out then it does cost additional funds in wages and fuel,let alone the 'infrastructure' costs.
*Of couse not much of a consideration in the citys,but relevant in a lot of shire counties.

[Tom Sutton]

If a retained appliance turns out then it does cost additional funds in wages and fuel, let alone the 'infrastructure' costs.

In the areas covered by retained what’s the likelihood of them responding to a lift job?

I agree with Kurnal but is charging going to be the answer, the owners will most probably not call out the FRS and will request a service engineer while those inside the lift who will be waiting maybe two or three hours.

Identify the habitually offenders go out there and kick arse. Sorry I think I may have been watching too many American movies. :|

[The Lawman]

We get our share of persons stuck in lifts in our wee retained unit.

[Tom Sutton]

I was only considering my own personal experiences, I spent six years on a station that had been day manning with a retained pump and I cannot recall ever attending any lift jobs. Conversely I spent six years plus on city centre stations and been to many mostly in high rise flats.

[steve walker]

If a retained appliance turns out then it does cost additional funds in wages and fuel, let alone the 'infrastructure' costs.

In the areas covered by retained what’s the likelihood of them responding to a lift job?

I agree with Kurnal but is charging going to be the answer, the owners will most probably not call out the FRS and will request a service engineer while those inside the lift who will be waiting maybe two or three hours.

Identify the habitually offenders go out there and kick arse. Sorry I think I may have been watching too many American movies. :|

The occupants of the lift sometimes call the FRS direct on their mobiles; I dont know the stats on this but wouldn't be surprised if this was common.

Most premises (about 58%) will only make one call in 12 months; this is about 25% of all calls  but about 5% of premises make 25% of all calls. This 5% range from about 8 to 30 calls a year. Only about 10% of the high-call premises re-appear year on year over a four year period. It appears that most sort it out after a year or so; there is quite a lot of pressure to do so inspite of the high cost involved.

Most shut in lifts occur in high density inner city areas -  not usually covered by retained.

Any inaccuracy with the stats is down to me.

[xan]

If a retained appliance turns out then it does cost additional funds in wages and fuel, let alone the 'infrastructure' costs.

In the areas covered by retained what’s the likelihood of them responding to a lift job?

I agree with Kurnal but is charging going to be the answer, the owners will most probably not call out the FRS and will request a service engineer while those inside the lift who will be waiting maybe two or three hours.

Identify the habitually offenders go out there and kick arse. Sorry I think I may have been watching too many American movies. :|

The occupants of the lift sometimes call the FRS direct on their mobiles; I dont know the stats on this but wouldn't be surprised if this was common.

Most premises (about 58%) will only make one call in 12 months; this is about 25% of all calls  but about 5% of premises make 25% of all calls. This 5% range from about 8 to 30 calls a year. Only about 10% of the high-call premises re-appear year on year over a four year period. It appears that most sort it out after a year or so; there is quite a lot of pressure to do so inspite of the high cost involved.

Most shut in lifts occur in high density inner city areas -  not usually covered by retained.

Any inaccuracy with the stats is down to me.

yes,just making the point that there is an additional cost when retained called out.Majority of lift rescues are carried out by WT,but a significant amount will be carried out in a shire county like mine where there are many towns covered by RDS.

[savo97]

we in herefordshire get a few calls to stuck lifts ,and we are retained

[steve walker]

Ok, I see your point -a clear additional cost. Is one call to a non-emergency shut in lift acceptable or should the FRS charge? Some stations will only get a few a year; some will get over 500.

[Tom Sutton]

Another point you need to consider if charging for Special Services, how you recover the money. In my former brigade if we intended to charge for the service we had to get a signature on the form before we started. In this situation who will sign the form and if you intend to send it directly to the owner, s/he will most probably say send the bill to the person who asked for the service we would have turned out the service engineer.

[Dragonmaster]

We charge the building owners at Special Service Call rates where people are stuck in the lift car (no injuries or distressed people - yes i know we'd all be distressed, but the IC has the power to recommend no charge based upon any mitigating factors). Any distressed occupants, medical emergencies or people stuck in machinery are emergency responses and won't get charged

[steve walker]

Another point you need to consider if charging for Special Services, how you recover the money. In my former brigade if we intended to charge for the service we had to get a signature on the form before we started. In this situation who will sign the form and if you intend to send it directly to the owner, s/he will most probably say send the bill to the person who asked for the service we would have turned out the service engineer.

Yes, getting the cash is an issue. I think that we would send the bill to the owner / manager rather than get anyone to sign. If they dont pay up then I suppose we could if necessary (and reasonable) go through the courts.

[steve walker]

We charge the building owners at Special Service Call rates where people are stuck in the lift car (no injuries or distressed people - yes i know we'd all be distressed, but the IC has the power to recommend no charge based upon any mitigating factors). Any distressed occupants, medical emergencies or people stuck in machinery are emergency responses and won't get charged

That sounds like a good system - what Brigade is that? Does it appear to work ok?

[Dragonmaster]

The policy was introduced in last year's IRMP plan in Shropshire. Unfortunately, i don't have any figures, but your welcome to contact the IRMP team.

[Tom Sutton]

Finding out how effective this scheme is would be very interesting, could you Dragonmaster or anyone from Salop find out and enlighten us all.

[Dragonmaster]

Since Jan 07, we have attended 22 such calls, with 17 being charged - all against the premises