Lift safety in buildings could be compromised because manufacturers have not updated their rules to account for rising levels of obesity, a conference has been told. An expert warned that lift capacity signs showing the maximum number of passengers are out of date, potentially leading to longer journey times, safety issues, and stigma by suggesting more people can fit than is comfortable.
Outdated regulations
Lift manufacturers are required to display the maximum number of passengers a lift can accommodate. However, these rules have not been updated for years. A researcher examined whether lift design has kept pace with weight trends over time. In the mid-1970s in the UK, the average weight of a man was 75kg, and a woman 65kg. Today, these figures are around 86kg for men and 73kg for women.
Data from European lifts
Between 2000 and 2024, Professor Nick Finer, president of the International Prader Willi Syndrome Organisation, gathered data from 112 lifts across the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, and Finland. These lifts were manufactured by 21 companies between 1970 and 2024. He compared the average weight allowance per person (calculated by dividing maximum weight allowance by maximum passenger number) for each year of manufacture to the average adult weight for that year from the UK National Health Survey.
The study found that between 1972 and 2002, the maximum weight in lifts correlated with increasing population weight. However, after 2002, there was no significant increase in the assumed average weight of lift users. Manufacturers continued to assume an average weight of 75kg, while the actual average population weight was 79kg.
Safety and stigma concerns
Professor Finer told the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, Turkey: "The failure of lift manufacturers to adapt to rising levels of obesity and body size means that lift capacities are overestimated, meaning that journey times are likely to be increased and that safety could be compromised. What is more, suggesting more people can fit in a lift than is comfortable is stigmatising people living with obesity."
In an abstract presented to the conference, he stated that "overall manufacturers were not adjusting the capacity of lifts to reflect secular increases in population average weights." According to the NHS, 30% of adults in England were obese in 2024, and 66% were either overweight or obese.
