This extensive facility offers testing and type testing opportunities for safety components. The shaft is 27m tall with a ten tonne hoist and an electric cradle for installation and inspection of the components being tested.

The drop test shaft has dedicated access via roller shutters on the ground floor to allow for easy installation of equipment.

This shaft is currently out of service with no control system, ropes, car or guides. It is suitable for a company wishing to take on the whole shaft and install an entire lift system.

The "Hydraulic shaft" is historically named as such and is the most suitable for installing a hydraulic lift given that it has specific access from the drop test shaft for installaing rams. However, it is also suitable for installaing a standard traction lift and does in fact have a traction motor currently installed.

This shaft is currently out of service with no control system, ropes and or car. It is suitable for a company wishing to take on the whole shaft and install an entire lift system.

There are a number of tall vertical spaces in the tower which are not lift shafts. They are some of the spaces left once all the lift shafts were installed and are of use in their own right.

The 40m test void has a full height aluminium ladder installed of a type typically used in wind turbines and is therefore suitable for climber and and rescue training in those environments. It is also of use for companies developing, testing and marketing personal protection equipment for working at height.

The 77m test void has a galvanized steel ladder installed to half the void's total height. The ladder is of a type typically found permanently installed on the outside of buildings. It is therefore suitable for training people who work at height such as steeplejacks and telecommunications equipment installers.

This void is also suitable for running experiments on lift equipment such as ropes where height and all round access is important.

The high speed lift has been adapted so that we are able to carry out drop tests on many types of equipment, including fall arresters and descenders, at heights of up to 100 metres.

Tests can be repeated in rapid succession and this unique resource has proved itself invaluable for the development and testing of products still in the prototyping phase of development. Additionally, we are able to undertake periodic testing of products already on the market. The shaft has also been successfully used for type testing an advanced form of height safety system.

A brochure with more information can be downloaded here.