At our January ’09 meeting of the ASME A18.1 main committee we had the privilege of honoring Greg Harmon. Greg sold his company, National Wheel-O-Vator and retired from the industry to pursue his hobby farming, full time.
Greg began his code work back in 1986 as a member of the ASME A17.1 Part XX,XXI sub-committee. He worked with others such as Don Boydston, Marie McDonald, Dave Balmer and Ted Cheney to develop the safety standards that govern vertical and inclined platform lifts and stairway chair lifts.
He lead the effort to establish a separate standard for this product group independent from the rest of the elevator products covered by A17.1. A new main committee was formed for the new standard designated A18.1 and Greg chaired that new main committee from 1999 to his retirement in 2008.
Greg lead the committee as he did his company with grace under pressure, high character as well as a humble servant attitude. His leadership was instrumental in creating a great stand alone safety standard. Greg was a great asset to the accessibility industry and will be sorely missed.
