Lift back in service after malfunction caused spinal fracture in woman

SINGAPORE — Two months after a malfunctioning lift shot up and down erratically and caused a woman to suffer a spinal fracture, it is finally back in service, to the relief of the elderly residents in the block.

The lift at Block 150 Petir Road had not been in operation since the incident on June 7.

Residents had to walk over to the next lift in the same block, and some had to climb a few flights of stairs as the lift did not connect to some floors.

In a statement yesterday, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said the independent Authorised Examiner (AE) appointed to inspect the lift and recommend rectification works submitted its findings last month.

The lift contractor then proceeded with the rectification works. The BCA was informed last Friday that the AE had inspected, tested and certified that the lift is safe for operation.

After an inspection, the BCA lifted the suspension on Tuesday. It did not elaborate on the cause of the incident.

Acknowledging the inconvenience to residents, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who is Member of Parliament for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, said that he had been asking the BCA why the lift was out of service for so long.

Speaking during house visits yesterday, he added: “At this point, we are waiting for BCA to provide a formal report ... We need to find out what the BCA report shows, and make sure the preventive maintenance is there.”

A spokesperson from Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council, which appointed the AE, explained that it had to coordinate with the AE and lift contractor on the rectification works.

While the lift was out of service, the town council helped some wheelchair-bound residents by carrying them up or down to the levels which had no lift access, at their request.

Yesterday, resident Mdm Chin Moy, 49, pointed out that the estate had many elderly residents.

“The lift has been down for so long ... I’ve seen some elderly with walking sticks and it’s so exhausting for them to climb the stairs,” she said. The town council, she added, should improve on maintenance, noting that the alternative lift they were using also broke down for half a day last week.

On June 7, Mdm Yeo Choon Tee, 59, had been heading to pick up her granddaughter at about noon when the lift’s doors did not open at the ground floor. Instead, it shot up “faster than normal” to the 11th floor, and zoomed up and down before stopping abruptly, throwing her to the floor.

Mdm Yeo suffered a compression fracture to her lumbar vertebrae.

After a string of high-profile lift accidents, the BCA introduced more stringent lift maintenance standards, spelling out 20 outcomes that lift contractors must check off during monthly inspections.