Turkey’s Standards Institute office building's elevators sealed for being 'unsafe'

The elevators in the Standards Institute (TSE) building in the eastern province of Erzurum have been sealed by municipality officials for being unsafe.

Municipal police from the central Yakutiye district of Erzurum sealed the elevators in the TSE building on Dec. 3, on the grounds that they do not meet standards and possess security risks. Municipal police across the country have increased the number of security inspections on elevators after a number of recent elevator accidents.

Seven engineers from the TSE Eastern Anatolia Project Coordinator’s office control 2,690 elevators in Erzurum city center. Inspections have discovered 1,579 elevators to have potential risks – some of which had cables nearly severed, problems in the braking system, or lacking an operational security system, including the elevators located at the TSE building. More than half of all elevators inspected were given a “red label” and sealed by the municipal police.

TSE officials urged citizens to not use elevators with a “red label” on them, regardless of the height of the floor they are intending to use the elevator to reach.

Officials informed the district municipality about the unsafe elevators. Some 215 elevators in the Yakutiye district have received a “red label” and were sealed.

Municipal Police Chief Lütfettin Polat said they are going to seal all of the elevators in the district that do not meet safety standards. He said the next target is the court house building and added the elevators in this building would also be sealed.

Yakutiye Mayor Ali Korkut said they will not open the sealed elevators until they are standardized.