Elevator safety is an example of Swedish failure and not over-implementation of EU legislation

In last week's debate article "The EU is not an excuse for Swedish regulatory chaos" (Dagens Industri, May 30), the Lift Directive was incorrectly used as an example of over-implementation of EU legislation.

It may be true that Sweden sometimes over-implements EU legislation, but basing the argument on the Lift Directive in particular shows ignorance and is extremely unfortunate. Contrary to what Jessika Roswall (M) and Tomas Tobé (M) write, Sweden, unlike many other European countries, chose not to introduce retroactive safety requirements in accordance with the Commission's recommendations.

The rules that the debaters are referring to regarding requirements for doors in the elevator car were introduced in 2012 in commercial buildings. Elevators in work premises therefore have stricter requirements than elevators in residential buildings, which means that the most vulnerable groups in society are currently exposed to a higher risk than users of elevators in work premises. With today's regulations for residential buildings, the responsibility for modernizing an elevator, so that it is upgraded according to today's requirements, lies with the property owner.

Many countries have modernised their existing lift stock with the measures that the European Commission recommended to its member states back in 1995. Statistics show that the number of accidents has decreased since these rules were introduced. In Sweden, however, a lift in a residential building meets today's legal requirements if it was considered safe when it was put into use - even if the lift is 100 years old. This means that all developments in lift construction in recent decades, including improved legal requirements, only apply to new lifts.

While new and modernized elevators are very safe, more than half of all elevators in Sweden are older than 30 years and lack important safety equipment. From a European perspective, Sweden, which has Europe's oldest elevator stock, stands out in the wrong way.

In recent years, there have been several accidents involving older elevators in residential buildings, where children in particular have been seriously injured. As recently as last year, a five-year-old boy lost his life. Sweden has not taken its responsibility, and is lagging behind in building a safer society.

According to the Swedish Elevator Association, at least 26,000 older elevators in Sweden currently lack protection in the car opening, which poses serious risks. Last year, new requirements were introduced to address elevators with dangerous gaps between the car door and the shaft door, a welcome but insufficient step. These new rules affect approximately 5,800 elevators, but there are an estimated additional 20,000 elevators that need to be improved with protection in the car opening, installation of an emergency telephone and protection against moving and live parts.

It is of utmost importance that the government raises the safety level for these elevators as well. The technical solutions to prevent most of the accidents already exist – let's use them. Ensuring elevator safety is not just a matter of following EU directives, but of protecting lives and preventing unnecessary accidents in Sweden.

The debate article can be read at Di.se.

The Elevator Association Regulations