Tower Block Lift Alarms

Within 24hours of reporting to a Hounslow Homes Officer on Wednesday that the present arrangements in place, for residents stuck in a broken down lift was not satisfactory - a visitor to a block was stuck in a lift for over one hour.

The present system involves anyone stuck in a lift pressing the alarm button. This connects them to the HH's call centre where one is told you are waiting in a queue - once connected and your details taken the call centre calls the lift engineers. The engineers in this case took 1.1/2 hours to arrive and if someone had not phoned the Fire Brigade who was there in 10 mins the chap in question could have been stuck for much longer.

I tried phoning the call centre and received no reply. Also a call to Easdale House concierge was not answered as it was their lunch break.

However if you get stuck in the lift between 8pm - 8am first you are connected to the call centre where a recorded message tells you that the call centre is closed and will open between 8am - 8pm and to phone the out of hours number which of course you are unable to do. You are then told if you do not get a response to press the alarm again. This time you should be connected to the Lift contractor.

Both daytime and night time after this you are told that the number you have called is not recognised at which time the system then takes 15mins to reset - so if something goes wrong and your details are not recorded the first time you have to wait a further 15mins before you can begin the above procedures once more.

In the days prior to Hounslow Homes the council had these alarms directed to Link Line who immediately contacted not the lift engineers but the Fire Brigade. Anyone stuck in the lift was freed within 10 - 15 mins Linkline also talked anyone that appeared to panic through their ordeal until the Fire Brigade got there.

Firemen i spoke to at the scene agreed that they should be the ones called out in the first instant to release anyone. The lift engineers afterwards to fix the lift.

However Hounslow Homes for reasons beyond logical thinking do not agree with the alarm going to linkline and then the Fire Brigade. They would rather residents have to suffer this ordeal.