Objective:Escalator signage could be playing a vital role to alert users for safe use of escalators.This study aimed to evaluate the availability,standardization,and content of safety information on escalator signage in the shopping malls.Methods:An observational study was conducted from November 2017 to February 2018 to assess the availability,standardization of safety information among the signage inside the shopping mall,and the content of safety information for public safety in Malaysia.A checklist was developed by adapting escalator safety guidelines from seven countries and regions including Malaysia.Data collectors identified from the selected states were required to capture three photographs at different angles of the escalator signage for each ascending and descending directions at each entrance of the mall.Descriptive analysis was performed;each criterion was presented in frequency and percentage.Results:A total of 268 escalators from 84 shopping malls in 9 states of Malaysia were assessed.Two operating escalators were not equipped with signage.More than one-fifth (23.0％) of the signage was not standardized within the mall.The majority of safety information was displayed in the form of a pictogram,a minority of signage displayed information in both pictogram and text format:"children must hold hand" (12.7％) and "be careful of long clothing" (10.8％),respectively.Nevertheless,"toddlers should be carried" (8.6％) and "take extra care with rubber shoes/tied shoes/laces" (30.2％) were found absent in most of the signage.Conclusion:Escalator signage was present in almost all of the escalators observed.However,non-standardization of the signage of escalators should warrant the attention of relevant authorities to revise the safety guidelines and improve the quality of escalator.

Introduction: This study aimed to explore the behaviour of Malaysian children aged 5 and less when traveling on the escalator. Methods: An observational study was conducted at six randomly selected shopping malls in the Kinta District of Perak State in Malaysia. Sample size of 258 caregiver-child pairs was calculated. Children and their caregivers were observed for unsafe behaviours by using a checklist consisting of 15 unsafe behaviours (e.g.: child sitting on escalator, travelling facing opposite direction, playing with the emergency stop button, not following caregivers’ instruction). The checklist was constructed from accredited escalator guidelines adapted from five different countries. A child was considered unsafe if there was at least one of the unsafe events observed. The proportion of child using escalator in an unsafe manner was analysed using IBM® SPSS® Statistics. Results: Of the 258 child-caregiver pairs observed, 149 (57.8%) children and 162 (63.8%) caregivers demonstrated at least one unsafe behaviour when using the escalator. ‘Not following caregiver’s instructions’ (28.7%) was the most common unsafe behaviour among children while the most common unsafe behaviour among caregivers was ‘not holding their child’s hand when using the escalator’ (41.7%). Four children used the escalator unattended. Conclusion: More than half of the children and their caregivers had used escalators in an unsafe manner and this required attention from the Public Health Department and the Department of Occupational Safety and Health to prevent unwanted injuries, especially among children.