NEII's Committee Week and MEI-Total Elevator Solutions Visit
During the week of May 15, many of NEII’s committees met in Minneapolis to collaborate and discuss their crossover efforts. The Central Code, Safety, Communications and Government Affairs committees coordinated meetings to maximize efficiency of NEII’s work and the time of our volunteer leaders. Following the committee meetings, the NEII staff headed to Mankato, Minnesota where we toured MEI Total Elevator Solutions and met several MEI team members. James Meyer, MEI Vice President of Operations gave us with an overview of the MEI history, operations, and products, and NEII provided updates on key areas of interest. We also explored areas where we might collaborate further. Thanks to the entire MEI team, but a special thank you to Nikki Smith, MEI Marketing Manager and member of the NEII Communications Committee, for making all the arrangements. We truly appreciate the opportunity to visit another NEII member facility to learn more about the industry.
NEII's May piece in Elevator World: Safety is No Accident
NEII has submissions in every edition of Elevator World in 2023. Our most recent article was written by our Director of Safety Trent Behr. Read Safety is No Accident, which discusses vertical transportation industry’s commitment to continually improving worker safety and the development of the model codes that support that commitment. Our June article is on elevator emergency communication. If you do not already receive Elevator World, you can get a subscription here.
Blog Post on Emergency Communications
In combination with our upcoming piece in June’s Elevator World, NEII recently published a blog post entitled Feeling Trapped on the topic of emergency communication. An important safety function, modern elevator emergency communications address an important industry challenge – entrapments for visual-, hearing-, and speech-impaired
passengers.
Upcoming Recruitments
The elevator industry is hiring. Below are the upcoming recruitments for elevator constructor apprentices. Please share these opportunities as appropriate.
Currently, there are open recruitments in
June 1-16 in San Antonio, TX
June 1-21 in Portland, OR
June 1-22 in Madison, WI
Upcoming recruitments:
June 12-23 in Baltimore, MD
June 29-July 21 in Reading-Allentown, PA
July 3-28 in Greensboro, NC
For more information on the industry and training and recruitment opportunities, please visit neiep.org.
US Department of Labor Announces 'Beat the Heat' Contest
The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced that they are seeking new tools to increase awareness about heat hazards at work and are inviting stakeholders to share their best tools in a competition.
OSHA's Beat the Heat contest seeks to educate workers and employers about workplace heat hazards, raise industry and general public awareness of the dangers excessive heat presents to workers, and motivate employers and workers to act to prevent heat illness. If you have an idea to submit, do so by June 9, 2023 at the OSHA Beat the Heat Contest page.
Code Development Update
ASME A17/CSA B44 Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators:ASME A17/CSA B44: The 2022 edition is currently being prepared for publication which is tentatively scheduled for July 31, 2023. The effective date will be 6 months from the publication date.ASME works on a continuous process, so committees are developing changes for the 2025 edition. Proposals can be submitted at any time during the cycle. Any changes not approved during the cycle are carried over to the next cycle.
ICC International Building Code Series (I-Codes):ICC has released its schedule for the 2027 edition, including some changes to the procedures.They will hold two sets of committee hearings for each group of changes.Group A will be heard in 2024 and Group B in 2025.A joint Public Comment Hearing will be held in 2026.Proposed changes for Group A of the 2027 edition will be due by January 8, 2024.
ICC A117.1 Standard for Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities: The A117 committee is meeting virtually every two weeks to review proposed revisions for the next edition.There were over 250 proposals submitted and the committee has completed the first round of review. A committee ballot and public review period is expected to open soon and will close after 60 days.
NFPA 70 National Electric Code – NFPA is now accepting proposals for changes for the 2026 edition. Proposals will be accepted until September 7, 2023.
NFPA 101 Life Safety Code and NFPA 5000 Building Construction and Safety Code – Changes for the 2024 editions are being finalized, including several proposals from NEII.Publication of the 2024 editions is expected later this year.Work on the 2027 edition will begin in 2024.
Key Recent Code Adoptions
Maryland – Adopted the 2021 I-Codes with an effective date of May 29, 2023. Montana – New provision prohibited local building codes to be more restrictive than the code adopted by the state.Effective date October 1, 2023.
Calendar of Events
National Safety Month - June
Pride Month - June
SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, Atlanta, GA - June 19-23
