With 150,000 passengers entering the Tube system every hour, getting them down to the platforms safely is a big responsibility. Enter senior lift & escalator inspector at Tube Lines, Dave Stringer. Remember the last time you rode an escalator on the Underground? Perhaps you were thinking about work at the time, reading the adverts or chatting to a friend. Chances are you weren’t checking the steps beneath your feet. For Dave Stringer, looking at how the escalator is working is too great a temptation, even if he’s heading towards street level for a big night out. It’s hardly surprising. Starting as an apprentice with London Underground more than 30 years ago, Dave has worked with lifts and escalators his entire life, either as a fitter or an inspector. “I mainly work days and spend half my time at the office and the rest on site,” he says. “My responsibilities include managing a team of five other inspectors, but I’m also hands on.”
With 150,000 passengers entering the Tube system every hour, getting them down to the platforms safely is a big responsibility. Enter senior lift & escalator inspector at Tube Lines, Dave Stringer.
Remember the last time you rode an escalator on the Underground? Perhaps you were thinking about work at the time, reading the adverts or chatting to a friend. Chances are you weren’t checking the steps beneath your feet.
For Dave Stringer, looking at how the escalator is working is too great a temptation, even if he’s heading towards street level for a big night out. It’s hardly surprising. Starting as an apprentice with London Underground more than 30 years ago, Dave has worked with lifts and escalators his entire life, either as a fitter or an inspector.
“I mainly work days and spend half my time at the office and the rest on site,” he says. “My responsibilities include managing a team of five other inspectors, but I’m also hands on.”
According to Dave, it can be quite a juggling act. Apart from six-monthly statutory inspections and annual assessments of each escalator’s overall condition, the team checks maintenance and visits factories to inspect work on new or refurbished machines. “Any defects we find are reported to the people who maintain the escalators – either Kone or Tube Lines Escalator Services – to rectify and no escalator or lift can be returned to service without our approval.” Giving a green light is a serious business. Potential faults can range from oil on the brakes to an excessive gap between a step and the side of the escalator. Either could put people at risk. “You need a careful eye to spot problems,” says Dave. “That’s why our inspectors have at least seven years’ practical experience.” Planning his day is a challenge for Dave, especially when he’s suited and booted for the office and suddenly gets called to an urgent job down a lift shaft. “I always wear safety shoes and keep overalls handy,” he says. “Inspectors often find themselves working in confined and dirty environments, which people rarely appreciate.”
According to Dave, it can be quite a juggling act. Apart from six-monthly statutory inspections and annual assessments of each escalator’s overall condition, the team checks maintenance and visits factories to inspect work on new or refurbished machines.
“Any defects we find are reported to the people who maintain the escalators – either Kone or Tube Lines Escalator Services – to rectify and no escalator or lift can be returned to service without our approval.”
Giving a green light is a serious business. Potential faults can range from oil on the brakes to an excessive gap between a step and the side of the escalator. Either could put people at risk.
“You need a careful eye to spot problems,” says Dave. “That’s why our inspectors have at least seven years’ practical experience.”
Planning his day is a challenge for Dave, especially when he’s suited and booted for the office and suddenly gets called to an urgent job down a lift shaft.
“I always wear safety shoes and keep overalls handy,” he says. “Inspectors often find themselves working in confined and dirty environments, which people rarely appreciate.”
When he’s not under an escalator or busy in a lift shaft, Dave might be found on top of the lift itself. That’s because he trains London Underground employees and contractors to drive them into position ready for maintenance work. Since climbing on the roof of a lift sounds nerve-wracking for most of us, Tube Lines certainly has the right person for the job. Apart from being a keen traveller, he belongs to a mountaineering club and has scaled peaks in the Alps. It seems he just can’t stay on level ground.