Service Lifts

A dumb waiter is basically a small lift. It was invented in the Victorian times as a means of transporting items between floors. Servants in the kitchen placed food into the dumb waiter, and it was taken to the dining area to be eaten by the owners of the house. Dumb waiters are used for a similar purpose in many hospitality environments today.

A dumb waiter is an extremely useful tool to decrease the risk of accidents in the workplace. They are often found in hotels or restaurants with a number of floors, and without their help employees would be forced to use a staircase. There is the option of installing a service lift, which would allow passengers with trolleys laden with various items to travel between floors, but this may not be appropriate for all locations. The dumb waiter takes away the potentially dangerous staircase, and allows waiting staff to remain in the dining area and kitchen staff to remain in the kitchen. It saves precious time and allows employees to spend more time on other important tasks. Restaurants can be extremely busy, and their reputation rides on the speed and efficiency of their service. A dumb waiter can be a cost-effective way of contributing to this process.

A hotel would benefit hugely from the installation of a dumb waiter. Many larger hotels would warrant a service lifts, but this is often impractical and too expensive to justify in smaller hotels. The cleaning process in a hotel is meticulous but must be completed to a high standard in a relatively short period of time. The installation of a dumb waiter would mean this task could be completed quickly and efficiently, whilst also avoiding the use of any staircases within the hotel. This could lead to accidents, which certainly wouldn’t help the hotel’s reputation.

It is extremely important to make sure the dumb waiter adheres to government safety regulations when it’s installed. The shaft and car must be carefully designed and built to fit perfectly in their environment, and to ensure they run smoothly and efficiently, with as little requirement for maintenance as possible. Other more superficial aspects such as the aesthetics of the car and the configuration of the lift controls can be considered, but these are a secondary concern compared to safety issues. It is important that the dumb waiter is installed to run safely and to be operated easily and efficiently by staff, so that it is an asset and not a liability.