2012中科院考博阅读B.doc

TheMinato Ward 2006 elevator accidentwas an incident in June 2006 which shookJapanesepublic confidence in the safety ofelevatorsaround the country. In June 2006, inMinato, Tokyo, a 16-year old high school student was killed by an elevator maintained by SEC Elevator Co Ltd. He was backing out of it with his bicycle when the elevator suddenly rose with the doors still open, causing asphyxiation. Investigations began related to this fatality.1In the process of this investigation, the safety of elevators in Japan came under question, with media attention focused on the manufacturer, Swiss based elevator company theSchindler Group. That elevators are not infallible came as a surprise to many people. The Japan Elevator Association disclosed that 9,200 entrapments happened in Japan in 2004 in elevators of the big five Japanese elevator manufacturers (Mitsubishi Electric, Hitachi, Toshiba, Nippon OTIS, and Fujitec). In addition, many elevators were reported to have suddenly stopped between floors, or had the doors fail to open when arriving at a floor, or made strange noises. Of the 8,800 Schindler elevators installed in Japan, 85 have trapped people.2Following the incident, the Minato Ward public housing corporation replaced all five Schindler elevators in the condominium with elevators from another manufacturer.Elevator maintenance had been carried out by a Japanese maintenance company, and not by Schindler, since 2005. The elevators in question were maintained by Japan Elevator Corporation in 2005, and by SEC Elevator from 2006 until the time of the accident. The International Herald Tribune and Asahi Shimbun reported on June 14 that Loose bolts and worn brake pads, evidence of poor maintenance, likely played a central role in the elevator accident. In the article it can also be read that it is the responsibility of the maintenance company to ensure that such bolts are tightly fastened.Schindler pointed out that the maintenance of the elevator was carried out by a non-affiliated maintenance company and that the company does not have an indication of a product design mistake so far. However, Tokyo Metropolitan Police finally concluded that both Schindler and maintenance company are responsible for the accident. Six people are reported to be prosecuted.3Schindler, Minato Ward public housing corporation, and the Japanese elevator maintenance company SEC were publicly criticized for showing an evasive attitude toward the Japanese police and the condominiums inhabitants.4They did not respond to or attend any public meetings for the first 8 days, although they claimed to have fully supported all investigation attempts. June 14, 2006. The International Herald Tribune (Herald Asahi) reports that Loose bolts and worn brake pads, evidence of poor maintenance, likely played a central role in the elevator accident. . It is the responsibility of the maintenance company to ensure that such bolts are tightly fastened. June 14, 2006. Investigations reveal 6 cases in Japan where the elevator moved with the doors still open.5Manufactured between 1997-1998, they used the same circuit board (now being investigated by Schindler) model. In the Chiba case, Schindler is still maintaining the elevator in question. Questions about why some elevators came with the defect and why some took 7 years to show the defects have been raised, but Schindler Elevator KKs head Ken Smith claims that it might be the deteriorating PCB. It is worth noting that the Fanling, Hong Kong case occurred on an elevator installed in 1997 also（当时记得确实是有一个also这个词，因为这样的电梯事件，无独有偶） June 15, 2006. According to the Mainichi Newspaper, an employee of SEC testified to the police that he did not know how to adjust the brake of the fatal elevator and that he just left it as it was. June 16, 2006. Schindler has admitted that a software problem caused the problem with several elevators in Japan,6Elevators manufactured between 1991-93 are affected, although Schindler claims that this faulty code was not a material safety risk. The problem is that the elevator doors could still reverse 0.5s after the elevator starts moving, and when the door reverses when the elevator moves, the elevator is not halted. Schindler will upgrade the software code for the affected elevators by the end of June 17. However, this was not a factor in the Minato Ward accident which is still under investigation. On NHK 9 OClock News reports Schindler K.K. representative said that the programming error was detected and fixed for a number of elevators of that model some time ago but that it may be that service workers doing maintenance on these once code corrected elevators could have unwittingly gone and reprogrammed them again with the old codes, thus leading to the malfunctions. Initially, 9 elevators were identified to have the problem, but the list later expanded to 52. June 17, 2006. NHK reports that a problem in the brake has been found in the Minato elevator as replacing the brake yielded no operational problems. The motor was confirmed to be off when the elevator killed Hirosuke Ichiwaka. Experts have said (as quoted in the Yomiuri source at the end of this paragraph) if the motor was on, the boy would have received much more than bruising. Police are still investigating what caused the brake failure.7 June 18, 2006. SEC, the independent company in charge of maintaining the Schindler elevator at Minato Ward, was revealed by broadcasting group NHK that an inspection of the captioned elevator just 9 days before the accident said that the brake and all components were working properly. June 22, 2006. Minato Ward has confirmed that it will be replacing 2 of the Schindler Elevators (1 which killed 16 year old Ichikawa Hirosuke) to Mitsubishi elevators.8The cost of replacement will be 168,000,000 yen (approx. US$1.46 Million). June 22, 2006. Kyodo News reports: Police suspect a Japanese maintenance company for Schindler elevators in a Tokyo apartment building had failed to follow checkup manuals before a fatal accident on June 3 in one of the units, investigation sources said Thursday. (.) The police suspect some of the checks by SEC Elevator Co. on the elevators brake system were insufficient against the checkup manuals provided by the maintenance company and a public housing corporation affiliated with the Minato Ward office, the sources said. The police believe a brake malfunction was one of causes of the accident which killed 16-year-old Hirosuke Ichikawa at the building in Minato Ward. July 5, 2006. More Schindler door problems come to light: According to the Japan Elevator Association, the incidence of accidents in which passengers are trapped inside elevators made by the five major elevator manufacturers is on average 0.15 percent per month. However, in the case of those made by Schindler, the figure ranges from 0.4 percent to slightly less than 0.5 percent-about three times higher than average.9. Unfortunately the Japan Elevator Association data did not distinguish custom built elevators from commodity elevators. Custom built elevators have tend to have a higher defect rate. Elevator maintenance companies like Schindler, with a higher proportion of custom elevators, will have higher entrapment rates. August 14, 2006. On NHKs News Watch 9, it was revealed that the elevator which killed Ichikawa Horosuke had anomalies in its brakes that did not relate to worn out pads. When tests were conducted, it showed that the disc brake was using 20% less current than other brakes of the same model. November 20, 2006. The deadly Schindler elevator that killed Ichikawa has been replaced with a new Mitsubishi Elevator (according tohttp:/search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061121a8.html). The mayor of Minato Ward has test-ridden the elevator and residents are reporting a much smoother ride. For the past few months, workers have been working around the clock, replacing the elevator in record time. The other elevator will be replaced by February.Public concern over the Minato Ward case has not been limited merely to Schindler elevators（这个事件不仅限于迅达电梯电梯上，这个我印象最深，后面列举了一些其他牌子的电梯）. The Asia Times Online reports that in response to a flood of inquiries from customers, including building owners, the third-largest domestic elevator company, Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corp. is offering free inspections of their elevators, while Mitsubishi Electric Corp., the leading firm, and Hitachi Ltd, which is the second-largest, are responding to requests on a case-by-case basis.10A recent Japanese survey shows that 65% of the students interviewed are uncomfortable with elevators following the Minato