In department stores, the skytrain and many other places, escalators have become such a fixture in our modern lives that most people seem to forget they can also be dangerous.
A sign saying ‘‘Watch your head’’ has been put up on a perspex wall next to an escalator at Future Park Rangsit shopping mall, where a girl was severely injured after her head got stuck in a gap. APICHIT JINAKUL
After two escalator accidents earlier this month in which the left foot of a toddler was severed and the head of a girl was severely injured, the danger has suddenly become more apparent. Many people, especially parents of young children, are more alert to the possibility of how easy it can be to get hurt.
The first incident occurred at a hospital in Khon Kaen province, while the second happened at a shopping mall in Pathum Thani's Rangsit area.
"These accidents can be avoidable," say experts from the Engineering Institute of Thailand and the Lift Association of Thailand which recently held a joint seminar to educate people on the safe use of escalators and lifts.
A repeat of the two accidents will not occur, they say, if users take a little more care and building owners keep escalators in good condition. The authorities should also check more often on the state of the equipment.
"Accidents are mainly caused by people rather than machines," said Lift Association of Thailand chairman Suphat Charusorn. He said lift and escalator makers usually meet international standards.
He urged parents with children not to let them out of their sight because they are playful and curious about the moving staircases.
"We may be familiar with news reports about a kid's arm being stuck in part of an escalator. That resulted from curiosity as the child reached into a gap below the handrail at the top of a floor," Mr Suphat said.
Experts and police have investigated the causes of the two accidents in Pathum Thani and Khon Kaen.
On Sept 9, 12-year-old Nualphrae Wasunthaphi-chaikul was severely injured while riding an up escalator at Future Park Rangsit shopping mall. Her long hair was caught in the moving staircase, causing her head and neck to be pulled up and trapped. She is still in a coma.
Earlier, on Sept 7 at Srinagarind Hospital in Khon Kaen, an escalator comb-plate severed the left foot of a three-year-old boy, identified only by his nickname "Porter", while he and his mother were going down.
Doctors re-attached the foot, but his left leg will be a bit shorter than his right.
The comb-plate, whose edges look like the teeth of a comb, forms part of the moving steps and slide beneath the floor. It is among three "dangerous points" that must be checked by users to ensure there are no broken "teeth", said Chakrapan Pawangkarat, the Engineering Institute of Thailand's head of mechanical engineering.
Building staff have an obligation to check whether there are safety brushes along the two sides of an escalator, installed to prevent parts of clothes or shoes from getting into the gap between the moving steps and the side board.
They must also make sure that the gap between the escalator and parts of the building structure must be no more than 50 centimetres wide.
For users, "don't place your feet near the edge of the steps", Mr Chakrapan said.
As for the state's role, Mr Chakrapan suggested authorities set clearer safety requirements for the installation of escalators and lifts and tighten inspections of the facilities.
At present, he said, building inspections "do not give importance to lifts and escalators".
Officials do not check escalator performance, locate broken parts or inspect the gap between escalators and parts of a building that can become dangerous to users.
The Lift Association of Thailand is eager to help officials inspect lifts and escalators in Bangkok.
However, Mr Suphat said, "our association is not authorised by law to do the job".
He is concerned over a report that says there are about 100 companies which provide sub-standard installation of lifts and escalators. This problem must be dealt with along with the need for people to be more careful when using lifts and escalators.
However, people should not panic about escalator-related accidents.
"Most accidents are minor," Mr Suphat said. "Some people just lose their balance and fall while others accidentally get their shoelaces or the edges of their clothing trapped in escalators."