A Day in the Life of a Lift Engineer

Meet Steven Trotter who features on our Anatomy of a Lift Engineer infographic.

Pickerings Lifts engineers are amongst the most experienced and professional lift engineers in the UK.

They’re directly employed, so you are guaranteed to receive the best uniform level of service, no matter where your business is located.

They attend regular Toolbox talks to keep their level of training up-to-date, and all apprentices will have, or be studying toward, qualifications.

All lift engineers provide ‘traditional servicing’ of passenger lifts, goods lifts, service lifts and dumbwaiters.  That means, if your contract says an hour service, you’ll get an hour service… we won’t just ‘visually check’ your lifts and lifting equipment as they frequently do in ‘modular’ servicing.

A Pickerings Lifts engineer will take an allocated space of time – usually at least an hour – to fully inspect, test, service, lubricate, and if needed, make any adjustments to your lifts and lifting equipment.

Pickerings Lifts has more than two-hundred engineers UK-wide, working out of thirteen regional offices.  They’ve been trained on most types of lifts… even our competitors… so, if you have another make of passenger, goods, service lift or dumbwaiter, and want to switch maintenance provider, don’t worry, Pickerings Lifts will be able to cope.

As the accompanying infographic shows, each lift engineer is fully equipment to service, maintain and repair your lifts, and more importantly in the times we live in, to keep you and them, as healthy and safe as possible.

Each Pickerings Lifts engineer is equipped with the following:

• Safety helmet
• Ear defenders for noisy environments
• Facemask
• Goggles for chemical sites
• Heavy-duty gloves
• Identification, because certain sites such as governmental, care environments and schools require various levels of authorisation
• Works mobile phone to stay in communication with their regional office, if they require support, parts or for updates
• Android tablet to enable the lift engineer to update our bespoke lift management system there and then
• PPE and cleaning equipment to ensure the site is clean both before and after the scheduled lift service, maintenance or repair visit has taken place
• Protective boots because, let’s face it, lift engineers work in what can hazardous places
• Toolkit for use on-site, and our engineers keep common lift maintenance spares in their vans, and at their regional offices, which is why they have a 93% first-fix rate
• Barriers and signage, to protect the public and employees of the customer

Let’s return to Steven Trotter, or Steve as he likes to be called… the guy in the Anatomy of a Lift Engineer infographic.

We caught up with Steve, when he was last in the North East regional office, in Stockton-on-Tees.

When did you join Pickerings Lifts Steve, and where are you based?

“I think it was September the 30^th, 2009.  I’m based out of the North East office, in Stockton-on-Tees, but I’m on-the-road most of the time.”

What does your job cover? What do you do?

“It’s servicing, call-outs, and minor repairs on passenger lifts, goods lifts, service lifts and dumbwaiters… to keep them legally compliant with the HSE… the Health and Safety Executive.”

What do you like about your job?

“There’s always something different to do every day.  I mean, the job is basically the same, but every job you go to is slightly different, so – unless I’m really unlucky – I’m never doing the same thing twice.  But it’s also just nice to be out and about and figuring out how each lift part – you know, the control system, or the motor, or the door system – works.”

What training have you had either from Pickerings Lifts or for your job role? What ongoing training do you get?

“I’ve got an NVQ Level 3 in Lift Maintenance, and I’ve also been put through several LEIA courses… LEIA is the Lift Elevator Industry Association… our industry body.  Pickerings Lifts helped found it, apparently, back in the nineteenth century!”

What days or shifts do you work?

“I work Monday to Friday, and one week in four I’m on-call for emergencies.”

What times do you work?

“Usually, 8-16:30… ish.”

What’s the first thing you do at work each day? Why?

“I drive to the first job and [Steve laughs] that could be anywhere within the territory.  But we do know our schedule in advance.  Pickerings Lifts uses its own bespoke servicing and maintenance management system which is pretty good at mapping out what needs servicing, when, and in what order.”

What do you like best about your job?

“For me, it’s the satisfaction of fixing something.”

What’s the worst bit about your job?

“Easily, it’s being on-call.  But you know, that’s the job!”

What’s your territory? How far do you drive in a day?

“Well, I’m in the North East, so it’s generally a drive to Middlesbrough, or Bishop Auckland or Newton Aycliffe, but recently I’ve been going a bit further afield.  I’ve been going to Northallerton and Thirsk more often.  The mileage just depends on where I’m sent.”

If you work with the customer directly for your job, what types of questions do you get? How do you handle them?

“They can ask you anything!  But more often than not it’s why something might be not working, or why it is being turned off because it needs parts, etc. after a breakdown.”

What do you most look forward to about your job?

“The Thursday morning when a week of on-call finishes!  You can understand why.”

If you work on site, how do you keep yourself safe? How do you keep the customer or other people safe?

“We use notices and barriers to stop people using the lift when we’re working on it. We also isolate the power and use safety switches, etc.”

You’re a professional. You’re good at your job. What does ‘a good day’s work’ look like to you?

“Fixing any call-outs that come in and getting a lift working again. It gives me real satisfaction knowing I did it.”

What do you look forward to when you’re approaching home time?

“Getting home having a brew and if the weather’s good heading off for a bike ride!”

Click on the link below to find out more about the planned lift maintenance, servicing and repair options offered by Pickerings Lifts:

Lift Maintenance

If you are interested in working for Pickerings Lifts please check out our careers page:

Careers

Contact us on 0800 085 3211 or email contact@pickeringslifts.co.uk to find out more about the services we provide