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                                Escalator Safety

According to a research study published in August of 2006 in the journal, Pediatrics, there were an estimated 26,000 escalator-related injuries among children who were 0 to 19 years of age in the United States during 1990-2002, for an average of 2000 of these injuries annually.

The following are some of the main findings of the study:

1. The average age was 6.5 years at the time of injury, and over 1/2 of the patients were male. 
   
2. Children who were younger than 5 years had the highest estimated number of injuries.
   
3. The most common mechanism of injury for all age groups was a fall, accounting for 13000 (51.0%) injuries.
   
4. Entrapment accounted for almost 1/3 of all injuries and 36.5% of injuries among children who were younger than 5 years.
   
5. Six percent (723) of injuries to children who were younger than 5 years involved a stroller, with most injuries occurring when a child fell out of the stroller while on the escalator.
   
6. The most common body part injured for all ages was the leg, accounting for 27.7% of all injuries.
   
7. Among children who were younger than 5 years, the hand was the most common injury site (40.6%).
   
8. A laceration was the most common type of injury, accounting for 47.4% of escalator-related injuries.

The authors concluded that:

• young children should be supervised properly and should not be transported in a stroller while riding on an escalator.
  
• all passengers should use caution and remain alert when riding an escalator to avoid injuries related to falls or entrapment.
  
• additional research is needed to determine the relationship among passenger behavior, escalator design, and escalator-related injury.