On the show today I share an interview I had with Bob Shepherd last night.  Bob is the Executive Director of NAESA International and man dedicated putting together an event that focuses solely on safety in our industry.  The selfless idea and promotion behind the event may be difficult for some to understand the goal should not after reading Bob's letter and listening to the interview. Since I have family that works in the field I want to make sure they come home to their loved ones each and every day.  I encourage you to support the Elevator Safety Summit by attending and/or sending in a donation to show that you too care about safety in our industry. Safety is everyone’s responsibility and it’s not impossible to imagine the future without any accidents.  Please take a moment to read Bob’s article, listen to the show and I promise it will provide you with a pretty good idea what this event is all about.  

Event Details - Elevator Industry Safety Summit -| May 21-23 – Phoenix, AZ

Sponsorship/Registration Event Link
Sponsorship/Registration Event Packet Link (.pdf)
STAND WITH ME FOR SAFETY! – BOB SHEPHERD

150 plus more for Safety, will you help me?
 
         I am not writing about elevator codes, government agencies or elevator gadgets, this time it is all about safety as it should be! 
 
         Well, here we are just two months away from the start of the first ever Elevator Industry Safety Summit, which will be held in Phoenix on Sunday evening May 21st. Nowhere in the world has an elevator industry event ever been entirely focused on safety, with people from all aspects of the industry coming together for a sole safety goal, to just save lives!  Most people know by now from my writings and my many conversations with my friends over the years, that I put my heart out there on my sleeve totally exposed, I hide nothing and always share my thoughts honestly. 
 
         So, here’s my heart: I need your help! Although we have many registered for the Safety Summit to which I thank them all, we need far more to get a more diverse collection of elevator industry people and to help pay the bills. When I started this initiative, and brought it to the NAESA board, I had just completed a feasibility study to see what support having a Safety Summit would garner from the elevator industry, the support at that time was tremendous from all I spoke with. I could have filled Yankee Stadium and Fort Knox with the promises of support at that time months ago, well here we are today and I need that same energy and support at this moment to make the Safety Summit a greater success, I need you all standing beside me in Phoenix.  I thank each of you who have registered already and the people who have promised to register, but I need that support now and much more of it. As I stated in a previous writing of mine, the only poker NAESA has in the fire or stake in this safety game is the NAESA vision to promote safety, as NAESA always does. NAESA does not have NAESA employees working in high risk environments, but our membership and many others do. NAESA saw a need and is trying to help. 
 
         NAESA saw a need to unify the elevator industry on safety and NAESA and many others recognized that a united effort was needed to create a uniform list of Fatality Prevention Processes (Safety Absolutes) which could be applied throughout the industry and then followed by all. 
        
         At this moment and being 100% honest, NAESA stands to lose monetarily, because proceeds may not cover the cost of this event. Of course, NAESA will if needed pay the short-coming proudly if it helps save one life, but I would be much happier and less anxious if NAESA, being a non-profit, didn’t have to pay this remaining contractual burden alone.  I guess with hindsight being 20/20, NAESA should have made it a trade show, we could have filled the place and had the venue bursting at the seams. For the life of me, I can’t understand why the same can’t be said for a 100% safety event? Safety should always be the main show, not the side show!
 
         Please help me, yes, I am the person with my heart on my sleeve and this Safety Summit was my dream together with Bob Caporale Sr, all in the name of saving a life! Bob knew this Safety Summit was going to happen and that is was being dedicated to his pursuit of elevator safety for all. 
 
         I have heard from some that I write too much personal stuff, well to me there is nothing more personal than safety. I am not a marketing or sales expert, I am just an old guy, who started as a coffee boy many years ago, who speaks and writes from the heart and one who will never give up on safety until the day I die. Then after that, I hope many others will keep Bob Caporale’s and my dream alive, going and growing. What more can I say? Please help me to save lives! 
 
         Below is a list of sponsors, in no special order for the Safety Summit to date, but they are all truly special to the industry and the safety cause, I, NAESA and the industry thank them all from my heart: 

GAL Canada – Steve Husband and the GAL Canada Team
TEI Elevator - New York City
Schindler Elevator – Vince Ribibero and all the Schindler team
MHT Codes & Consulting Specialists - Marc Tevyaw
GAL – Doug Witham, Steve Orts and all the GAL team
Davis L Turner & Associates - Dave Turner
Elevator Safety & Technical Services - Lee Rigby and team
Otis Elevator North and South America
Otis Elevator World Wide Engineering
ECNY – Elevator Conference of New York
Motion Control Engineering, Inc. - Ashur Kanon, Debbie Prince and team
KONE Elevator
Brugg Lifting, LLC – Martin Rhiner and team
OMEGA Industries – Greg DeCola and team
NAESA Canadian Region – Marc Tevyaw, region team and the members
CJ Anderson – Tom Sybert and team
Elevator Radio Show – Tom Sybert
EIWPF – Elevator Industry Work Preservation Fund
QEITF – Qualified Elevator Inspector Training Fund
IUEC – International Union of Elevator Constructors
Code Data Plate - John Rearick and team
Delaware Elevator – David Smarte and team
Vator Accessories, Inc. – Lisa Grimes and team
Coaker & Company, P.C. - Jim Coaker
EHC - Escalator Handrail Canada - Patrick Bothwell and team
JSG Elevator Consultants - Michael Fagan, Frank Fletcher and team
 
Above is a great group to build on!
Forgive me it I missed a name, you will all be listed in the event program and on banners at the venue.
 
Let’s work together to help save lives by doing whatever it takes, life is worth the effort! I love you all! 
 
Thanks for listening and your support, be safe!

In the Public Interest!
Sincerely, Bob Shepherd
609.780.5551
“Stay Safety Pinned”