Only one lift in Ghana is certified — GSA

Checks by the GRAPHIC BUSINESS has revealed that almost all lifts which have been installed in high rise buildings in the country, were operating illegally.

Although the Weights and Measures Decree, 1975, (N.R.C.D. 326) requires that all lifts and hoists are certified by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), the Director General of the GSA, Professor Alex Dodoo, told the paper that only one lift had been pattern approved in compliance with the law.

He said in violation of the law, many individuals and institutions that had installed lifts had not complied with the guidelines for testing and approving their safety standards for public use, a situation which posed danger to users.

Asked about the consequence of not conforming to the requirements, he warned that the authority would prosecute persons who were violating the law.

“As of today, GSA has pattern approved only one lift operating in the country,” he said in an interview on August 14.

Prof. Dodoo explained that in accordance with the law, the GSA classified lifts and hoists as instruments of weighing and hence required all persons who had installed some in their buildings, to comply with the relevant portions of the NRCD 326 by having their installed lifts or hoists inspected, verified and a certificate of verification issued for it.

“Any person who has in his possession for use in trade or industry, any weight, measure or instrument for weighing or measuring shall retain in his possession the certificate of verification issued in respect thereof and shall produce the certificate for inspection whenever required,” he warned.

Surge in high-rise buildings

With Accra’s skyline showing signs of promise, he said erecting lifts to access skyscrapers was inevitable.

As a result, Prof. Doodo urged persons and institutions that installed lifts or hoists to obtain a pattern approval from the GSA, to ensure that the design of the lift was examined against the published national standard.

He also called for a working relationship with the authority to inspect, verify, certify and authenticate any such lifts and hoists in buildings regularly, as prescribed by law.

Being the custodian of Weights and Measures and Inspectors of weighing and measuring devices, under the Weights and Measures Decree, 1975, (N.R.C.D. 326), he said the GSA was the only body with the mandate to periodically examine and approve the use of lifts in the country.