Stuck in a hospital elevator for 45 minutes and it changed how I check the door zone

I was at St. Mary's Hospital last month fixing a call button. The elevator stopped between floors with me inside, just a soft stop, no big drop. I had my tools, so I started checking things out while waiting for the crew. The door zone sensors were clean, but the sill was packed with what looked like tiny bits of paper towel and dust bunnies from the cleaning carts. It was just enough to mess with the full close signal. Now I bring a small vacuum to every hospital job and spend an extra five minutes on the sill before I even open my tool bag. Has anyone else found a specific place that always has a weird kind of trash in the door track?

2 comments

2 Comments

graytorres2mo ago

That extra five minutes is a waste of time. Most hospital maintenance crews are already overworked. Adding a non-standard step like that for every single job just slows everything down. The real fix is better training for the cleaning staff so they don't push debris into the tracks in the first place. Your one bad experience doesn't mean every sill is a problem. You are basically doing someone else's job for them and setting a bad expectation.

lily5742mo ago

Our maintenance guy at St. Luke's told me they're booked solid with 12-15 work orders a shift. @graytorres is totally right, adding steps bogs down the whole system. I saw a cleaner just sweep dust right into a track last week, so the training part is spot on. Fix that first instead of making a new rule for everyone.