There are over 75,000 elevators in use in Shanghai that go up and down every day, and their safety concerns everyone. The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision has recently drafted and released the "Shanghai Elevator Safety Management Measures" (revised draft). According to the revised draft, elevators used in public places and public rental housing, as well as those that have exceeded their normal service life, should purchase third-party liability insurance. If an elevator has a relatively high failure rate and is reported or complained about more than three times within one inspection cycle and the reports are verified to be true, it should be taken out of service for a comprehensive inspection and maintenance.

At present, many elevators in Shanghai were put into operation in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s. They have reached a lifespan of about 20 years but are still in "overage service", posing certain safety hazards. In some residential communities where property management is relatively weak, the "faulty" operation of elevators is difficult to be repaired in a timely manner, which leads to frequent operational failures.

The newly released revised draft clearly states that it will encourage elevator manufacturing and using units to participate in relevant insurance for elevator safety liability to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of passengers and reduce the extent of losses for elevator manufacturing and using units. Elevators used in public places such as schools, hospitals, parks, airports, stations, rail transit stations, public parking lots, shopping malls, hotels, catering and entertainment venues, stadiums, exhibition halls, as well as in affordable housing and those that have exceeded their normal service life should purchase third-party liability insurance. When an elevator malfunctions and traps passengers, a prompt response should be made within 5 minutes, and measures should be taken quickly to organize and implement rescue operations. At the same time, the daily maintenance and service unit should be notified.