Health Minister stuck in hospital elevator: Probe committee finds evidence of negligence

The probe committee formed over the incident of Health Minister Dr Samant Lal Sen getting stuck in a hospital elevator has found evidence of negligence on several issues including faulty automatic rescue device (ARD) and lack of necessary training of lift operators.

The inquiry committee submitted the report to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday (May 27th) where the reason behind the health minister’s being stuck in elevator has been described.
The investigation report has observed that the 1,000kg capacity lift is of ‘Sigma’ brand, manufactured by OTIS Elevator, Korea, and imported by 'Maan Bangladesh Limited'.

Operation of the elevator started on September 12, 2012, at the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital. It is being operated for about 12 years since then.
For continuous management of the elevator, the same organization is given the responsibility of monthly servicing and maintenance in the current fiscal year. They are doing regular servicing. Although no problem was found in the elevator during the visit of the probe committee after the incident, reviewing the statements of officials involved in the lift management, the probe committee has found several anomalies in the operation of the lift.

The problems are stated below.
1.Although the executive engineer of Public Works Department’s E/M Circle-7, Dhaka, related deputy engineer (E/M)  and concerned Sub-Assistant (E/M) issued instructions to the appointed lift maintenance company for lift servicing,  lack of proper direct work supervision has been found.

2.The Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) device installed to provide stable voltage power to operate the elevator is
useless.

3.There is no Automatic Rescue Device (ARD) installed to automatically take the lift to the nearest floor level in case
of power failure during lift operation, or if the lift stops between two floors due to any other reason.

4.The air cooler set up at the control room to keep the control micro-possessor and different semi-conductor in a fixed  temperature is useless.

5.Overload sensor of the lift does not work.

6.Negligence in monthly servicing of the lift on part of officials.

Mentionable, after attending the discussion meeting on the occasion of the Great Independence Day on March 31, the Health Minister along with 9 to 10 senior officials of the hospital took the elevator to go down from the 10th floor to the ground floor. As the elevator approached the second floor, they heard a noise. Then they heard another sound as the elevator stopped.

Even after coming down, the elevator door remained closed. Later, the lift operator on duty, with the help of the operator in-charge of the adjacent lift, arranged to open the door after 7 to 8 minutes. In this situation, with the help of bench (temporary arrangement for sitting for the lift operator) the minister and other officials stuck in the lift were brought out. The minister ordered an investigation into the incident.