For decades, European standards have designed lifts based on an average man of 75 kg, but today the reality is different and the scales read on average 86 kg for men and 73 kg for women. Yet elevator manufacturers, instead of updating the weight, started calculating the capacity based on the space occupied on the ground, 0.21 square meters per person. And according to Nick Finer, author of the study and professor at the prestigious UCL in London, this discrepancy creates critical issues and the appeal of the experts is clear: an “urgent rethink” is needed. It’s not just about changing a tag.
If an elevator claims to be able to carry 6 people but loads 6 who weigh on average 15 kg more than expected, the system is under strain. This can translate into more frequent breakdowns or, more simply, much slower journeys. But also a “sardine” effect that ends up being frustrating and stigmatizing for those living with obesity.
Obesity has changed men and women
The research – presented at the ongoing European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul – collected data from 112 lifts installed in several Western European countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria and Finland. The systems analyzed were produced by 21 companies between 1970 and 2024. For each lift, the year of manufacture, the maximum weight allowed and the maximum number of passengers indicated on the sign were considered. The result is curious: between 1972 and 2002 the average capacity per passenger increased, following at least in part the increase in the average weight of the population. Then, however, the curve stopped. After 2002, according to the study, there was no significant increase in the “presumed” average weight of passengers: many elevators continued to calculate around 75 kilos per person, even though the real average weight had increased. The problem is not just weight, but also space. In recent years, Finer explains, the industry has begun to increasingly consider the surface area occupied by people on the elevator floor, using two-dimensional geometric models. But even these criteria, according to the study author, would not really align with changes in the average body, including increases in waist circumference.
Elevators too full
Simply put, an elevator that on paper can accommodate eight people could, in practice, be much narrower and less efficient. It does not mean that every installation is automatically dangerous, also because modern elevators have load control systems. But if the maximum number of passengers is calculated on old parameters, the risk is to overestimate how many people can really enter safely and with a minimum of comfort.
Then there is a less technical and more social aspect. Indicating an unrealistic theoretical capacity can create discomfort and stigma for people with obesity: if the sign says that ten people should fit in the elevator, but in reality there is not enough space, the problem seems to fall on the bodies of the passengers. According to Finer, however, the question should be reversed: it is not the people who are “out of proportion”, it is the infrastructures that must be designed on the basis of the real population.
However, the study has limitations: the sample is small, descriptive and does not allow definitive conclusions to be drawn on all European elevators. Therefore caution is needed. But the theme is broader and concerns the way in which public spaces are designed: seats, doors, means of transport, hospitals, offices. If the population changes, safety and accessibility standards should also change.