近日，在美国马萨诸萨州，检察人员发现位于办公大楼和其他公共设施内961部电扶梯中的100部上粘贴的检查证明都已过期，而州政府对此表示，他们已要求未接受定期检查的电扶梯全部停止使用。
　　州公共安全部的数据库追踪该州所有电梯及电扶梯的检查情况，并列有一部截止到3月31日检查证明已过期的216部电扶梯的清单，这些电扶梯位于Braintree市, Brockton市和Natick市的各个商场中。
　　州公共安全委员Thomas Gatzunis表示，这份数据库同样包括了一些多年未使用的电扶梯和正在维修、恢复使用的电扶梯。
　　Thomas Gatzunis称，麻州117部电扶梯都未在指定日期接受检查，原因是该州的法律规定电扶梯检查是由电扶梯的所有者负责的。他说：“公共安全部门应该和电扶梯所有者合作管理电扶梯的安全。”
　　Gatzunis说，检查人员已经追踪调查并停止了那些超过检查期限2年的电扶梯的运行，为此麻州在去年秋天雇用了十多名检查人员。
　　公共安全部近日获权对那些不按规定检查电扶梯的业主罚款200美元，并有权强制停止电扶梯的运行。
　　在今年3月11日，麻州一名4岁男童从电扶梯上跌落死亡，此事过后，州安全部门更将电扶梯的安全检查列为重中之重。
　　事后，两名电梯检查员被停职，因为他们没有及时发现出事电扶梯与墙之间的超过规定宽度的缝隙。此后，检查人员将会特别注意电扶梯缝隙的检查。
　　据《波士顿环球报》报道，2008年至2010年间，其查访的位于多家购物中心内的188部电扶梯中，只有44部定期接受年检。
　　麻州法律规定，电扶梯须每年进行年检。检查人员会给检查合格的电扶梯安全证明，并要求未合格的电扶梯在90天内修好。而检查结果显示，该州116部电扶梯均未通过检查。
　　法律规定检查员有权停止有安全问题的电扶梯的运行。
　　州公共安全部自去年雇用新电梯检查员，如今已拥有51名检查人员，为上世纪80年代政府接管电梯安检以来史上雇用检查员最多的一回。在以前，由于检查员雇佣期限短，因而无法监督到所有电扶梯的检查情况。

Escalators: How do you know they are safe?

　　Expired inspection certificates mark more than 100 of the 961 escalators in malls, office buildings and other public facilities across Massachusetts, but a state agency says it has stepped up shutting down the devices when property owners fail to get them checked.
　　The state Department of Public Safety keeps a database that tracks its inspections of every elevator and escalator in Massachusetts. It lists 216 moving stairways with inspection certificates that have expired or were set to run out as of March 31, including stores at malls in Braintree, Brockton and Natick.
　　But the database also includes some escalators that have been out of operation for years and others with owners who are taking the proper steps to make required repairs and get the devices recertified, said Thomas Gatzunis, the state's public safety commissioner.
　　Still, by Gatzunis' count, about 117 escalators in the state have not been inspected or recertified as safe by the required date. This is largely because the law places the burden on property owners to schedule inspections, and some simply have not done so, he said.
　　"It really has to be done in cooperation and conjunction with the owners," Gatzunis said. "They really do need to apply."
　　In an effort to resolve the backlog, inspectors have been tracking down escalators with certifications expired more than two years, marking them as closed with a placard and shutting them down, Gatzunis said.
　　Since hiring a dozen more inspectors last fall, the department is stepping up its approach, he said.
　　"If they're more than one year out of compliance, we will go out and do compliance checks and placard the unit if we can gain access to it," Gatzunis said.
　　The department also recently got the authority to charge a $200 fine to owners whose inspections are overdue. Gatzunis said shutdowns generally are a last resort.
　　The state's handling of escalator inspections has come under scrutiny since the death of 4-year-old Mark DiBona of Dudley, who fell from one of the devices March 11 at Sears in the Auburn Mall.
　　The state has suspended two inspectors who examined the unit in December and reportedly failed to note a larger-than-allowed gap between the side of the escalator and the nearest wall. Inspectors also recently checked every escalator in the state for the same type of problem.
　　A report or follow-up action from that sweep is coming soon, Gatzunis said recently.
　　After a review of paper inspection reports for 188 escalators at major shopping malls, the Boston Globe recently reported that only 44 had received annual inspections from 2008 to 2010.
　　State law requires escalators to be inspected annually. Inspectors may provide a certificate if everything looks fine or issue an order for repairs to be completed within 90 days. About 116 escalators in the state are in the latter situation now, Gatzunis said.
　　An inspector can shut an escalator down altogether if it has a major safety problem.
　　Since hiring a dozen new inspectors last fall, the Department of Public Safety now has its largest inspection staff - 51 people - since taking over elevator and escalator checks from municipalities in the 1980s, Gatzunis said. Short staffing was a problem in keeping up with inspections in the past, he said.