This is not somewhere far away. A young woman going up to the second floor to shop clothings, a commuter walking up to the ground from the subway station, a patient coming down from the hospital room to feel the fresh air, or it may happen to me right now without warning.
According to the figure from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission(CPSC), around 17,000 physical injuries by elevator or escalator annually occur in the United States and the main reason for escalator-related accidents is falling. That is, constant announcement and warning sign is not efficient enough to make people to hold handrail while on escalator. One of the reasons they do not want to touch handrail is hygienic problem. Because of recent infectious disease such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS) and Ebola Virus, most of people have a fear of public hygiene which makes them hesitate to hold handrail while on escalator.
Under this circumstance, the more efficient method may be giving a confidence in hygiene instead of a warning for falling. In response to escalator hygienic issue, SWIT Inc., a South Korean sterilizer equipment manufacturing firm proposed a solution by developing escalator cleaning equipment ‘WECLEAN’. This is the world’s first escalator handrail sterilizing equipment combined with IoT(Internet of Things) technology. WECLEAN sterilizes handrail 99.9% by its sterilization liquid and UV Lamp and remove bacteria and viruses. In addition, installed 7-inch monitor presents the real-time sanitary condition of handrail audiovisually, therefore passengers are able to hold handrail without fear for infection. This monitor also provides the current location and direction to the passengers so that the risk of not holding handrail for concentrating on smartphone screen to find where to go may go down.
Moreover, as WECLEAN is a comprehensive solution using IoT technology, not only passengers but also installers can have advantages in administration. Once WECLEAN is installed, it can interwork with computer or mobile application so that 24-hour monitoring is available. Immediate alert sent to administrator in case of accident enables to secure customers’ safety. In addition, this IoT solution can record the number of escalator users which installer corporate may collect big data about customers. With all these, the ultimate goal of SWIT Inc. is to make and settle advanced escalator culture.
Accident occurs from small action. Since most of escalator users are ordinary consumers, holding handrail must be essential, not optional. In regard to this, WECLEAN is highly expected to take amazing steps that makes everyone want to hold escalator handrail.
▲ SWIT Inc.
▲ Brand Name: WECLEAN
▲ CEO: Kyeong Ho Park
▲ www.weclean.co.kr
▲ E-mail: serwoo@serwoo.com
▲ T: +82-2-1544-2830
Erika Jeon
K-Herald Korea
(Los Angeles Times Advertising Supplement)
