TNAG-1724-FCO40-2437-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 317

Supplementary to question No 5.. LegCo meeting on 20 January 1988

Prof. POON: Sir, would the Secretary inform this Council

the

whether brake failure is due to the poor quality of the braking

system or due to poor maintenance ?

Secretary for Lands and Works: Sir, I understand that the

brake was found to be improperly adjusted.

Mr. LIU (in Cantonese): Sir, for escalators which have been

in service for over 10 years, will the Government conduct

more frequent maintenance schedules and will there be more

stringent requirements ?

Secretary for Lands and Works: Sir, in fact, in this

particular case, the escalator had been inspected by a

registered escalator mechanic very shortly before and also

a few months earlier by a registered engineer. Under the

amendments to the Lift and Escalators Ordinance

introduced

in November last year, there is a requirement for a monthly

inspection by a registered escalator contractor and an

examination by a registered escalator engineer every six

months and with testing of safety equipment every 12

including a full load test; I think that probably should be

enough to cover all eventualities.

months

Mr. HU: Sir, can the Secretary for Lands and Works advise

this Council when the braking system of the escalator

was

concerned checked before the accident happened?

Secretary for Lands and Works: Sir, the last check was in