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Keep Your Children Safe On Escalators | |
 In a matter of moments a short ride most of us take for granted changed 2-year-old Madeline Dahm's life."I was going down the escalator," she said. "And my foot got caught." Madeline's journey began on a day spent with dad at Maplewood Mall this summer. After dinner they headed to the Ferris wheel taking the escalator down. Halfway down Madeline's foot was sucked into the space between the step and the side of the escalator wall. "The next thing I know she's screaming and tugging at my arm," said Jason Dahm, Madeline's dad. "I saw the shoe and I thought, oh my gosh, I hope it's just the shoe and I picked her up and I saw it was her foot." Suzanne Dahm, Madeline's mom met them at the hospital and was shocked by what she saw. "Her bones were crushed and the tendons were severed so her foot was like in two pieces," said Suzanne. "I was not prepared at all, for what we were about to go through." Escalators have swallowed the shoes of four Twin Cities children in the past six months, injuring three of them. The state says the accidents and injuries are on the rise. And the I-TEAM found plenty of blame to go around. How Accidents Happen Many escalator accidents are the result of falls. But a growing portion of them happen while people are riding. Underneath the escalator steps sits a big conveyor belt with moving parts. What you don't notice is the steps move ever so slightly from side to side even while they move up or down. Place your foot too close to the edge on some escalators and your shoe, shoe lace, a scarf or any loose clothing can be easily sucked in. It can also happen at the bottom when people drag their feet or clothing gets stuck into the comb plate. Years Of Accidents A Chicago boy was strangled when his scarf became stuck. A Florida girl lost three fingers trying to free her foot. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says 10,500 people suffer injuries on escalators each year. Most of them are children. Some are goofing around, others follow the rules. "I recall getting on with her and trying to stay as close to the middle as we could," said Jason. That's what escalator experts say you should do: stay as close to the middle of the step as possible. "You never think you're standing there and your foot is on the side and you're going to have this type of injury. I've never heard or thought about that," said Suzanne. Inspections Rare But you should. In Minnesota, escalators do not have to be inspected annually. In fact, right now the only time they are inspected is when there's an accident or the machine is being remodeled. St. Paul is the only city in the state to inspect escalators every year. In Wisconsin and Iowa, escalators are required to be inspected each year. Regular maintenance follow ups are also supposed to be performed. The I-TEAM asked Tom Joachim from the Minnesota Department of Labor about that. "We don't have enough staff to do the maintenance follow ups right now," said Joachim. Currently, Minnesota has six inspectors and thousands of escalators. If state inspectors were checking, they'd find gaps that are dangerously large. The rules say the gaps between the stairs and the wall of the escalator should be no bigger than 3/16th of an inch. On the advice of an escalator expert, the I-TEAM used a caliper to measure a stack of business cards to 3/16ths of an inch. Slip those cards easily in and out and the expert says that escalator is considered a danger. That's what we found on 10 of every 12 escalators we checked, including the escalator where Madeline was injured. Narrow, Outdated Escalators Jason said the escalator he was riding with Madeline seemed narrow. "At the time it seemed as though the escalator wasn't wide enough for two people, even a full grown adult and a child," he said. Maplewood Mall's main escalators are much narrower than most, 15 inches skinnier than the escalator at the Barnes and Noble in the same mall. Joachim admitted many of the escalators in use across the Twin Cities are old and outdated -- a problem, since you are supposed to stand next to your child. "People ride them everyday and they have no idea, no clue," noted Suzanne. Safety Features Lacking There are features that can make escalators safer. Plates that are often painted yellow can help close the gaps on steps. Brushes are also supposed to warn you if you get too close to the edge. The I-TEAM checked malls across the Twin Cities and found most do not have these safety features, and they are not required by law. "I think it's ridiculous," said Jason. State Law Changes Madeline's injury may help change that. Starting no later than next spring the state will impose new safety rules, including mandatory annual inspections and retrofitting all old escalators with some of those safety features. "It's basically based on accidents and wear and tear on escalators and elevators. I think we're seeing more of that," said Joachim. Buildings will have years to comply. Madeline's Future Madeline underwent four surgeries to repair the damage to her foot. She'll have to see her doctor until she's at least 18-years-old and she may need more surgery. But she is finally walking again. Her family now hopes you'll think of her next time you ride an escalator. "I just got to be really careful," Madeline said. Suzanne replied, "Yeah, really careful." Simon Properties says it requires escalators to be inspected every year and undergo monthly maintenance checks. A spokesperson could not tell us the last time the escalator had undergone either of those prior to Madeline's injury. Tips To Ride Safely Regardless of what escalator you are riding you should be sure that your shoe laces are tied and that no other loose clothing, like a scarf is dangling near the steps. Then step carefully on and stay as close to the center of the step as possible. Do not lean on the railing. Your kids should hold your hand, but not the railing. And everyone should step off completely -- don't drag your feet at the bottom. |
2013年12月8日星期日
How to Keep Your Children Safe On Escalators ?
2013年12月2日星期一
Which is the best Manufacturer of Escalator Skirt Brush in China ?Thyssenkrupp Vendor
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www.aoqunbrush.com
The Supplier of Thyssekrunpp.
Mainly focusing on High Quality and Competitive Price Escalator Safety Brush.
2013年10月22日星期二
History of the Escalator
Imagine a moving stairway.
At about the same time that Elisha Otis was figuring out the safety brake that would make elevators for public use practical, others were tinkering with the moving stairway contraptions that would evolve into the modern escalator.
The first escalator-like machine appeared in the mid 19th century, two years after the first passenger elevator. In 1859, Nathan Ames of the state of Michigan in the United States invented something he called Revolving Stairs, enshrined in history as US patent number 25,076, and generally acknowledged as the world’s first escalator. But Ames was unable to put the invention into practical use; he died in 1860, and in fact the thing was never built. The installation design formed an equilateral triangle that required passengers to jump on the stairway at the base and jump off at the top.
The earliest working type of escalator was patented in 1892 by Jesse W. Reno, and was actually introduced in 1896 as a novelty ride at Coney Island, a theme park in New York. Also during that decade George H. Wheeler patented a moving stairway with a moving handrail and flat steps that had to be boarded and exited from the side. Charles D. Seeberger bought Wheeler’s patent in 1898 and went to work at the Otis Elevator Company developing the first step-type moving stairway. It was Seeberger who created the name “escalator”, from the word scala (Latin for steps), and the word elevator, which was already in general use in the US by this time, and registered it as a trademark for a moving stairway.
Around the same time, moving walks made their debut, most notably in the form of special demonstration exhibitions at the Chicago Exposition of 1893 and the Paris Exposition of 1900.
Both Reno and Otis would emerge as the two driving forces behind escalator development. In 1900 Reno raised the problematic heel of the inclined wheel tread, and succeeded in the practical installation of cleat-type moving stairway in an elevated station in New York City. In that same year the Otis Company exhibited a step-type moving stairway at the Paris Exposition, and later brought them back to the US and installed them in a department store in Philadelphia. In 1911, Otis absorbed Reno and became the sole manufacturer. The company sold both step-type and cleat-type escalators and between 1900 and 1920 installed some 350 units, mainly at department stores and public transport institutions.
In the 1930s Mitsubishi Electric Corp. entered the escalator business, and began installing the devices in department stores and other major facilities in Japan. By the turn of the millennium the company has emerged at the forefront of escalator innovation and design, culminating in the spectacular multiple spiral escalator installation at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas.
2013年10月21日星期一
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5 Boards Every Pinterest Business Page Needs
Before you create a Pinterest business page, it is essential that you think about who you are trying to reach and what boards will help you best communicate your business goals and brand to your audience.
Unfortunately, not enough is said about Pinterest boards or how important it is to develop a Pinterest content strategy before you start pinning.
The sad fact is that most people just don’t know how to use Pinterest for business and as a result jump in without a clear idea of what they want to get out of their Pinterest business page.
While I’m not denying the importance of pins for your Pinterest marketing, your boards are the first thing that visitors to your Pinterest page will see when they arrive, not your pins.
In fact, when it comes to branding your business and growing your followers on Pinterest, I would go as far as to say that the boards you build and how you name and populate them are the key factors in making your Pinterest business page fly or flop.
Done right, the correct mix of Pinterest boards can capture your followers’ attention, increase engagement and build credibility for you and your business.
Your Pinterest boards can help you create a lifestyle around your brand and transform your Pinterest marketing into a lead and sales generation machine.
Here are 5 boards every brand or business must have on Pinterest.
#1. Business-Related
The chances are that when a new follower comes across your Pinterest business page they won’t know who you are or what you do.
It’s therefore essential to have one or more business-focused boards to offer followers an inside peek at your business and give them a feel for your company’s culture, products, services, and vision.
Such boards work very much like an About Page on your website and should be the first board on your page or at least in the top row because of the way visitors view your Pinterest page.
You could call this Pinterest board “Your Business Name” and feature photos of your offices, staff and partners if appropriate.
If you are a personal brand then naming your board “My Story” is a powerful way to showcase your journey and engage potential customers.
#2. Inspiring Quotes
Image quotes are hugely popular on Pinterest and are one of the easiest ways to communicate your brand’s message.
Are you in the health and wellness industry? Are you a travel agency?
Do you blog about positive living, leadership or parenting topics?
Choose quotes that are positive, inspiring and on-message so that your followers get a sense of your brand values and what makes your business tick.
Everyone should include motivational quotes on their Pinterest business page but taking the time to create a board with relevant and specific quotes that match your business activity will get you better results and help you stand out amongst a sea of “me-too” brands on Pinterest.
#3. Blog Board
If you have a blog for your business (and if you don’t then you really should consider blogging to get more traffic to your website) then you must have a board that contains all your blog posts.
Remember, you will only get traffic from Pinterest if you post your own content and link it back to your website, product page or sales page, rather than repinning other people’s content all the time.
A report by RJ Metrics reveals that 80% of pins on Pinterest are repins, which demonstrates the incredible virality at work on Pinterest. Whilst repinning information is important for sociability and to provide value to your audience, it does beg the question – just whose content are these 80% of Pinterest users pinning?
Make sure you fall into the 20% of content creators on Pinterest by creating and pinning your original content at least 30% of the time, starting with your own blog posts.
Depending on the amount of content you have, you could create a single Blog board for all your blog posts or many different themed ones like on Jeff Bullas’ Pinterest page.
#4. Video Board
http://www.flickr.com/photos/venosdale/
The rise of the visual social media network is one of the major trends in recent years. Pinterest and Instagram are two of the biggest players worth mentioning but in 2013 we also witnessed the launch of Vine, Twitter’s micro-video service, and the continuing surge ofYouTube.
Video is one of the best ways to connect with your audience and give them an insight into you and your business. Adding a variety of multimedia to your Pinterest business page also makes it more interesting and improves the overall customer experience.
Although video is very popular on Pinterest and it is super easy to pin videos directly to Pinterest from sites like YouTube and Vimeo, video is still highly underutilized.
Even if you haven’t got started with your overall video marketing strategy, it’s worth creating a video board. Call it “Your Business Name TV” and post simple “talking heads” style videos of you speaking to camera, introducing your employees or discussing the benefits of your products.
You could also produce short instructional videos using Camtasia for PC or Screenflow for Mac, which will record your screen and your voice but not necessarily your face.
This is particularly useful for service-based businesses like accountants, business coaches or web developers because it allows you to demonstrate your area of expertise, build credibility and connect with prospects. Do it well and they may even go on to do business with you at a later stage.
#5. Trending Topics
Trending topics include popular categories on Pinterest such as fashion, beauty, travel, food and home decor but also cover seasons of the year, special events and holidays like Christmas, Easter or Valentine’s Day.
These topics dominate Pinterest and can be a great way to attract new followers to your Pinterest business page who wouldn’t normally find you.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fixedgear/
Start paying attention to what is trending in the media or what is popular at the moment and fit your boards around these topics.
Think of ways to position your content so they fall into one of these themes even if they are only loosely related to your business activity.
For example, a health and wellness business could create a summer or winter board containing seasonal recipes, best workouts to get in shape at that time of the year or exotic places to visit in order to relax and rejuvenate.
Similarly, a realtor could promote places of interest or restaurants in a particular city or they could highlight the natural beauty of the local area throughout the year in order to attract potential buyers to their Pinterest business page.
Finally, keep analyzing what content is working well for your marketing on Pinterest and be prepared to prune your boards or change things if you’re not getting results.
It’s worth remembering that your audience on Pinterest does not want to be presented with a replica of your website or a catalogue of your products. They also do not want to be promoted to constantly.
2013年10月20日星期日
Why and How You Should be on Pinterest, Even if You Haven't Joined Yet
As an online business owner, you've likely heard a lot about how Pinterest can drive online sales. But maybe the thought of using yet another social network seems daunting and time consuming.
So we've decided to show you just how easy it is to make sure your business is getting the maximum benefit from Pinterest.
Lets start by looking at the most important thing you need to know to get started.
You Don't Need to Be Active on Pinterest
Surprised? While we will look at the benefits of actually having an active presence on Pinterest, the truth is, you don't need to be an obsessive pinner to actually get Pinterest traffic that will convert into sales.
What you absolutely do need to start reaping rewards from Pinterest are the following:
1. Pinnable Images on Every Page
The way you get traffic from Pinterest is by getting your images pinned by other Pinterest users. And in order to get that traffic, you need to have images that people will want to pin.
For example, let's say that you sell fine art like Rich Helmer Photography shown above. Obviously you will have images of your art on your product pages. But don't just stop there. Include photos of your art hanging on the wall of a well-decorated bedroom. Also add a photo of your art hanging in an office.
This will help your ideal customer visualize how your art will look in their home or office. If they like it, they'll pin it to their home decoration or office inspiration wall on Pinterest. Then their followers will have the opportunity to view that image and the choice to add it to their Pinterest collection.
This should hopefully lead to some traffic back to your product page.
Best of all - you don't have to have an active Pinterest account to make this possible. Everything is taken care of you by your website visitors and customers who have their own accounts.
2. Pin It Button
While avid Pinterest users will pin great images at will, casual Pinterest users might need a little nudge in the right direction.
This is where the Pin It button comes in. If you have enabled the Pin It button on your product pages, then people will be reminded they have a Pinterest account and will find it convenient to pin your image to their account like Girl Meets Dress does in the example below:
You can read more about how to add the Pin It button to your Shopify store here.
3. Rich Pins Capability
By taking the few extra steps of adding additional code to your website and verifying it through Pinterest's business resources, you can have enhanced rich pins for your products.
From the visitor's viewpoint, adding a rich pin of your product to their board is no different than adding a regular one.
From Pinterest users who are growing pins by their network, rich pins have the added bonus of including your business logo within search results and an easier to click on link back to your website. You can see what we mean in the image above from the Cookbook Village. To add rich pins to your Shopify store, follow the directions here.
The Benefits of Being on Pinterest
If you can get traffic that is likely to convert into sales back to your website without having to be active on Pinterest, why would you want to be?
The reason is because a lot of shoppers use Pinterest. This means that if you are on Pinterest with them, it gives you a chance to engage with your target customers and drive traffic back to your website.
1. Setting Up Your Business Account
Fortunately, setting up your Pinterest account is easy. You will want to go to the Pinterest Business Section and click the join as a business button. You will then fill out the applicable details about your business.
If you have a Pinterest account already for your business, but it was set up as a personal account, you can convert it to a business account.
Once you've setup your account, you'll want to add some boards to it. This is simply the way you will organize all of the photos you pin.
For example, if your business caters to pet lovers like Lap of Luxury Interiors pictured above, you could have boards like New Products, Cute Pets, Inspiring Animals, Keeping Your Pets Healthy, Cooking for Your Pet, and so on.
These would be the categories for all of the photos you pin. You can always create new boards down the road and move photos between boards.
2. Sharing Photos
When you're ready to start adding photos to your Pinterest account, you'll want to add the Pin It button to your browser using the extensions or the Pin It bookmarklet.
This way, wherever you are on the web, you'll be able to share photos that your target customers would find interesting to your Pinterest account quickly and easily.
What photos should you share on your Pinterest account? You should include a mix of your own product photos as well as random, non-sales photos across the web.
If you have a blog, you can share images from your posts as well. Whenever you see an image on the Internet while surfing the web, just ask yourself, "Would my target customer like to see this?" If the answer is yes, pin it!
The goal with your boards is to show that it's not all about your business. You want visitors to know that they should follow you to learn more about the things that interest them. Sure, you can splice in your own products, but you want to make it more about other things and less about your own stuff. This will help you attract dedicated followers.
4. Engage with Your Fans
The other thing you can do with an account that helps drive brand engagement and loyalty is interact with those who are pinning images from your website.
When logged in to your Pinterest account, just go to http://pinterest.com/source/domain.com/ and replace domain.com with your website's domain. Then you'll see all of the images people have pinned from it, like these from Pop Chart Lab.
A simple thanks to those people is all you need to do to show that you are involved with your community.
How do you use Pinterest to drive traffic to your business and gain fans?
2013年10月18日星期五
Tips on how to Prevent Escalator Accidents
Escalators indeed have made our lives easier in climbing up and down through different levels. We can get to whatever floor we like, faster and without exerting so much effort, people are spared from having to wait in line just to get into elevators. Indeed, escalators have given enough advantages that made the daily tasks of several people a lot less difficult.
- Be aware of the other persons who are riding the escalator with you; be on guard in case a person ahead of you accidentally falls.
- Use the handrail, holding onto it could reduce the risk of slipping or tripping over the moving st
- eps.
- Never go beyond the lines at the edge of each step, there would be risks of entrapment if you place your feet beyond it.
- Children are at greater risk for escalator accidents. They may lose their balance while on it so adults should be around to secure them. It is also not advisable to let children on strollers, walkers, or anything on wheels to ride the escalator because it would put them at greater risks.
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