Elevator inspection backlog takes steep, quiet dive

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/10/2022 (1247 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A persistent, rising backlog in overdue elevator inspections has dropped dramatically in recent months.

In 2020, more than half of elevators in Manitoba buildings were overdue for an inspection. Last month, it was just four per cent, according to data from the province.

In October 2020, 2,822 active elevators out of 5,258 were overdue for inspection. In September, the backlog shrank to just 215 out of 5,313 elevating devices.

Keeping up with inspections has long been a problem, a provincial government spokeswoman said Thursday.

In 2013, 21 per cent of elevators in the province were overdue for inspection, she said.

“There always has been a backlog and it might always remain. However, the extent of the backlog fluctuates year over year and currently is the lowest it has been in more than a decade.”

No explanation was given for how the province managed to clear the backlog that existed for a decade.

Labour and Consumer Protection Minister Reg Helwer said recently elevator inspections were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We couldn’t enter some buildings — entrance was not allowed during the pandemic. Secondly, we had some inspectors doing other things during the pandemic,” Helwer said last week, when asked about the elevator inspection backlog.

“As we move back to a more normal footing, those will be caught up.”

While the province isn’t quite back to normal, most pandemic restrictions were dropped a year ago.

This past spring, the number of overdue elevator inspections was estimated at 1,643 — nearly one-third of such devices in Manitoba, according to documents obtained by the Manitoba NDP through a freedom of information request.

Since then, that number has steadily decreased month after month, the provincial government spokeswoman said Thursday.

While no one from the province was available to explain how the backlog was cleared so quickly, the province’s inspection and technical services branch says it has changed how it manages inspections.

It has implemented a risk-assessed approach for elevator inspections, where inspection intervals are based on the condition of the device and the assessed risk, a paper submitted this spring to the minister said.

The province is working on enhancing its risk-assessment model and updating legislation to reduce the elevator inspection backlog, the document obtained through the freedom of information request said.

Updated legislation for elevators is part of a larger review of Manitoba’s technical safety regulations that are part of the Technical Safety Act passed by the legislature in 2015, but still hasn’t been proclaimed, it said.

The regulations under the new act include such devices as elevators, escalators and ski tow lifts and “will improve the safety of elevating device equipment, reduce red tape and administrative compliance burden to industry,” the document said.

The Opposition NDP said the government needs to act more quickly.

“Manitobans want a government that takes their health and safety seriously,” infrastructure critic Matt Wiebe said in an email Thursday. ”It’s appalling that the PCs let this backlog grow out of control. The PCs need to stop cutting services and clear this backlog immediately.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca