What does a 'firemans switch' on a lift do?

Question

Out side the ground floor of thew lift at work there is a little switch behind a glass screen, it is marked 'firemans switch' - What does it do?

- and for a bonus point: what section would YOU have put this question in?

Answer 1

It returns the elevator to the lobby and prevents it from being used until the switch is deactivated.

Answer 2

Firemans Switch

Answer 3

Firemans Lift

Answer 4

A typical modern passenger elevator will have:

Call buttons to choose a floor. Some of these may be key switches (to control access). In some elevators, certain floors are inaccessible unless one swipes a security card or enters a passcode (or both). In the United States and other countries, call button text & icons are raised to allow blind users to operate the elevator; many have Braille text besides.
Door open and door close buttons to instruct the elevator to close immediately or remain open longer. In some elevators, holding the door open for too long will trigger an audible alarm (This alarm might confuse some people to think that the elevator is overloaded).
A stop switch (this is not allowed under British regulations) to halt the elevator (often used to hold an elevator open while freight is loaded). Keeping an elevator stopped for too long may trigger an alarm. Often, this will be a key switch.
An alarm button or switch, which passengers can use to signal that they have been trapped in the elevator.
Some elevators may have one or more of the following:

An elevator telephone, which can be used (in addition to the alarm) by a trapped passenger to call for help.
A fireman's key switch, which places the elevator in a special operating mode designed to aid firefighters.
A medical emergency key switch, which places the elevator in a special operating mode designed to aid medical personnel.
Security controls: Elevators in modern buildings incorporate security features to control / prevent unauthorized floor access. One method is to use RFID card access in which call buttons don't register until an authorized card is detected. Another method is to require the passenger to enter a code, either on a separate keypad or the call buttons themselves, followed by the desired floor number.
Hold button: Larger elevators used for freight and hospital beds have an appropriately named button that "holds" the door open longer.
Cancel floor: On some elevator models, the building owner can enable a feature so that "double-clicking" a floor button will de-select it.
Other controls, which are generally inaccessible to the public (either because they are key switches, or because they are kept behind a locked panel, include:

Switches to control the lights and ventilation fans in the elevator.
An inspector's switch, which places the elevator in inspection mode (this may be situated on top of the elevator)
An independent service switch, which selects whether the elevator's operation will be coordinated with other elevators in an elevator bank.
Up and down buttons, to move the car up and down without selecting a specific floor. Some older elevators can only be operated this way.

Answer 5

A firemans switch, in any circumstances is to cut any and all electrical supply to an installation or specific part of it. Fireman do not want to be blundering about in an environment with live electricity that may have machinery spring into action inconveniently. Also there is a very high possibility of plenty of water being present etc. All factories etc should have one or several, by law.

Answer 6

A firemans switch works as a fire alarm..Generally in case of fires, the glass screen which hosts the small switch is broken and a simultaneous fire alarm starts beeping..

Section for Firemans switch would be "Engineering"

Answer 7

The elevator does not work after the fire alarm is pulled (The fire safety system sends all of the elevators to the lobby and inactivates them.). The fireman's switch allows firemen to use the elevator by overriding the safety system.

I would have put it under "engineering".

Answer 8

It makes the controls in the lift override everything else, allowing the firemen to go direct to the floor they select (ie it won't stop anywhere else).

I'd have put it in "bull fighting", because that's my favourite section for finding weird questions in.

Answer 9

It immediately calls the lift to that level and cancels any stored requests.It is basically an over-ride switch for emergency use.

Answer 10

Makes a hunky fireman appear.
in CONSUMER ELECTRONICS(other)?or transportation other