News about elevators

Lifts for the elderly and disabled

The Accessible Environment program, which has been operating in the Russian Federation since 2009, provides for the creation of comfortable conditions for the disabled and the elderly. The presence of special lifts or elevators in the places of their compact residence, as well as in any modern public building, is an indicator of this program.

Features of elevator movement control

Due to various possible restrictions on the health of older people and people with disabilities, specific requirements are imposed on the elevator control system:

• Pressing the control buttons is duplicated by sound messages and light indication.
• The buttons themselves are made more convex with embossed symbols, larger and highlighted. The distance between them is greater than usual.
• The control panel in the cockpit and the call buttons are located at the level of the armrests of the strollers for the convenience of the disabled.

Such solutions allow low-mobility citizens to independently manage the elevator without accompanying persons.

Elevator cabins for the disabled and the elderly

Cab design requirements are defined in GOST R 51631-2008 and GOST 53770-2010:

• The overall dimensions of the cabin and doorway are calculated based on the dimensions of the strollers specified in GOST 30471-96.
• Lack of automatic closing of the door (or the possibility of adjusting the delay).
• To facilitate wheelchair maneuvers in the cab, handrails and mirrors are required.
• Comfortable lighting and contrasting colors finish for people with low vision.
• The flooring in cabs must not slip, so as not to endanger people with a cane or walker.

Installation and modernization of lifts in residential areas

Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1521 dated 12/26/2014 made the SNiP 54.13330.2011 clauses ensuring the arrangement of buildings when living with handicapped groups mandatory during construction.

In low-rise buildings, the installation of elevators or elevators in homes for people with disabilities and elderly people most often consists of open or closed vertical and inclined compact elevators or folding staircases inside or outside buildings. For buildings below 9 floors, one lift is sufficient.

High-rise multi-storey buildings are equipped either with standard passenger elevators, modernized taking into account the requirements of GOST and SNiP for use by people with limited mobility and elderly people, or already taking into account these requirements from the range of products manufactured by most manufacturers.

The use of international events on the territory of the Russian Federation to create an accessible environment is undoubted. Acceptance of public buildings and structures for them is carried out by international organizations and their requirements are strictly observed. The most indicative in this regard is the set of rules of the joint venture 59.13330.2012, adopted and implemented in preparation for the Sochi Olympics. Gradually, the situation for the better is changing in the outback, which pleases.