Safety Tips For Riding Escalators! For All Seasons!

We all love escalators, they take you up and down the floors and give our tired feet a rest after tiresome shopping or some times work. Escalators have become so much part of our lives, that we do not notice them any more. We just ride them up and down.
Escalators are mechanical devices and can give you and I a lot of trouble if we do not take care. It is just simple steps that is necessary to be safe while riding escalators. Following is an CPSC bulletin; Know the Steps to Safety When Using Escalators
Some shoes more likely than others to pose risk
Each year the ride between floors is made easier when an estimated 90 billion riders use an escalator. Although most of those rides are without incident, the CPSC estimates there were approximately 11,000 escalator related injuries in 2007. The majority of these injuries are from falls but 10 percent occur when hands, feet or shoes are trapped in escalators.
The most common entrapment is to the foot. Soft-sided shoes are the most likely to get stuck and pose the possibility of injury to the rider. CPSC is aware of 77 entrapment incidents since January 2006, with about half resulting in injury. All but two of the incidents involved popular soft-sided flexible clogs and slides.
Here are some steps you can take to prevent escalator injuries:

Make sure shoes are tied before getting on an escalator.

Stand in the center of the step and be sure to step off of the escalator at the end of your ride.

Always hold children's hands on escalators and do not permit children to sit or play on the steps.

Do not bring children onto escalators in strollers, walkers, or carts.

Always face forward and hold the handrail.

Avoid the sides of steps where entrapment can occur.

Learn where the emergency shutoff buttons are in case you need to stop the escalator.

Tags: CPSC News, escalator safety