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Testimony of Jim Miller, International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 11 — Proponent of HB 107 (March 24, 2021)

Summary

Testimony of Jim Miller, proponent of HB 107 (the Ohio Elevator Safety Bill), before the Ohio House Commerce and Labor Committee, dated March 24, 2021. He identifies himself as an elevator constructor for 40 years, a certified trainer for the National Elevator Industry Educational Program (NEIEP) and business manager of International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) Local 11 in Cincinnati. The testimony says the bill now exempts chair lifts and elevators in residential homes, and describes Limited Use/Limited Application elevators (LU/LAs). It states opposition to the effort to exempt elevators designed for people with disabilities from the bill.

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“Testimony of Jim Miller, International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 11 — Proponent of HB 107 (March 24, 2021).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2021-03-24-commerce-labor-testimony-hm107promiller-f9896830ab/, SHA-256 ef00ec3b7a1a012b31bf2266501bfa0c8dc196ae97c8fb75bd75459f60986d6a.

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                                  Testimony of Jim Miller
                   International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 11
                      National Elevator Industry Educational Program
                                   Proponent of HB 107
                       Ohio House Commerce and Labor Committee
                                      March 24, 2021


Chair Stein, Vice Chair Johnson, Ranking Member Lepore-Hagan and Members of the Ohio
House, Commerce and Labor Committee thank you for this opportunity to testify today in
support of HB 107--the Ohio Elevator Safety Bill.

My name is Jim Miller and I have been an elevator constructor for 40 years. I am also a
certified trainer for the National Elevator Industry Educational Program (NEIEP). I also serve
as the business manager for the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) Local 11
in Cincinnati and I am currently on the ACT Ohio Board.

I have spent my entire professional career building and maintaining elevators and training
others to do the same, and over the course of my career I have come to understand one very
basic fact of life—all elevators are life safety systems.

Elevators and escalators are some of the most common forms of transportation in the world.
This morning I drove up from Cincinnati and parked in the Huntington garage. I took two
elevators to get to a meeting, another elevator and two escalators to the statehouse underground
and another elevator to get to this hearing room. I have already ridden 6 conveyances to get to
this committee hearing.

The reason I mention that is to point out that most people never give elevators a second
thought, they just expect them to work, and in most cases they do.

At the start of the previous General Assembly we asked the former sponsors (Rep. Patton and
Cupp) to include all elevators, escalators and chair lifts. Through negotiations with other
interested parties, the bill now exempts chair lifts and elevators in residential homes because
the homeowner is responsible for the conveyance on their property. As an aside I would
encourage anyone who is installing an elevator in a home to have it installed professionally.
Home elevators do not always have the same safety features as commercial elevators. And
never let children play on them.

Last General Assembly we were asked to exempt Limited Use/Limited Application elevators—
otherwise known as LU/LAs. A LU/LA elevator is an elevator that has been retrofitted to go
into buildings that were not originally designed to have elevators.

The need for LU/LAs arose after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Many
buildings that were built before ADA did not have an elevator, but were required to find a place
in the building to incorporate one. The vast majority of LU/LAs are in churches and schools.
They are often tucked away into small spaces that were originally designed to be a small room or
even a closet. As such they require additional engineering—variances from the original design
to make them fit into less than ideal spaces. They also have their own ASME code that allows
for lower clearances for machinery. LU/LAs are also restricted in how fast they can move and
how many feet they are allowed to travel.

In most cases the only people who use LU/LAs are wheelchair users or that are incapable of
using stairs. As proponents of House Bill 107, we strongly oppose the effort to exempt elevators
designed for people with disabilities from a bill designed to help ALL people.

Thank you for your time, I am happy to answer questions.

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