Product Design & Warnings

Product design and hazard communication are often key issues in product liability cases. We evaluate how hazards are managed including product design, barriers and guarding, and warnings and instructions.

Medical products and devices
•Breast implant (toxic shock)
•Ear lavage syringe
•Absorbable hemostatic agent
•Medication (prescription)
•Infusion pump
•Post-surgical cold therapy unit
•Surgical head pillow
•Latex gloves (national expert)
•Ephedra
•Wheelchair
•Walker
•Hot/cold compress

Vehicular
•Body/suspension lifts
•Motorcycle fuel gauge
•Tractor rollover
•Trailer brake activator
•Trolley coupler
•Sailboat - electricution
•Marina safety
•Air Stairs (board airplane)
•Truck transmission

Workplace
•Beryllium exposure
•Mixed organic solvents exposure
•Hospital laundry boiler explosion
•Radiation exposure of pipeline workers
•Tire mounting machine
•Industrial juicing machine
•Fire ladder
•Bean harvesting machine
•Winch

Building materials
•Acid (sulfuric and muriatic)
•Insulation (combustibility)
•Table saw
•Power doors and gates
•Wood stain (combustibility)

Recreation
•Basketball hoop
•Boat electrocution
•Water ski bindings
•Power boat towing innertube
•Children’s toys
•Treadmill
•BB gun
•Video game (seizure)

Appliances
•Barbecue side grill
•Steam cleaning machine
•Paper shreader
•Washing machine filter
•Clothes dryer

Other
•Injection molded chair
•Pool pole electrocution
•Oscillating fan
•Power doors
•Insecticide
•Candle

Children

Children are often involved in accidents at school, on the playground, and with consumer products. We evaluate how age-related factors, supervision, playground equipment and product design contribute to injuries to children.

School and classroom safety
•Dismissal of young students
•School bus safety
•Science lab explosions and burns
•Field trips
•Organized sports
•Classroom supervision
•Safety of classroom activities
•Adolescent behavior

Playground equipment
•Falls from heights
•Playground surfacing materials
•Adequacy of supervision
•Maintenance
•Children's use of age-appropriate equipment
•Equipment design
•Equipment standard of care

Children and traffic
•Age appropriate capabilities and limitations
•Behavior
•Perception
•Memory and learning
•Driver expectations
•Visibility
•Conspicuity of children

Automobile & Motorcycle

We evaluate how driver perception and the physical environment are involved in vehicle collisions.

Driver Perception-response Times
•Driver expectations
•Reasonable behavior
•Distractions
•Visual cues
•Information processing
•Line of sight

Visibility, Lighting, Conspicuity
•Motorcycle conspicuity
•Driver search patterns
•Driver expectations
•Response times
•Illumination levels

Accessibility

Americans with Disabilities
•Wheelchair access
•Ramp design
•Walkway accessibility

•Barrier removal
•Management
•Parking lot accessibility

Fair Housing Act (FHA)/Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

•Housing accessibility
•Environmental design for tenants with different disability types

Organizational Issues

Federal laws specify requirements to protect workers from discrimination and harassment. We evaluate organizations' policies and practices as well as the conduct of management and employees.

Sexual Harassment
•Employee and management expectations
•Policies and procedures
•Title VII
•Safety climate
•Management
•Employee responsibilities

Discrimination
•Employment discrimination
•Adverse impact
•Wrongful termination
•Title VII

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
•Workplace accessibility
•Policies and procedures

Workplace Accidents

We evaluate equipment and job design. We also analyze the effectiveness of organizations’ risk management programs in controlling workplace hazards.

Evaluation of risk management programs
•The design of the safety program
•Policies and procedures
•Management practices

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
•Compliance
•OSHA violations

Effectiveness of training programs
•Curriculum design
•Transfer of training to work areas
•Post-training evaluation

Safety climate
•Consistency of written/spoken policies with behavior
•Perceptions of employees vs. management
•Organizational culture
•Employee participation

Premesis Liability

We evaluate how behavioral expectations and building design interact as they relate to premises accidents.

Stairway falls
•Building codes
•Handrail usage
•Pedestrian expectations
•Stairway design
•Single riser accidents
•Where people look when they walk

Slips, trips, missteps and falls
•Coefficient of friction (COF)
•Building codes
•Pedestrian expectations
•Walkway design
•Reasonableness of conduct
•Where people look when they walk
•Tripping hazards

Fences, walls, and gates
•Wall construction
•Fence stability
•Gate closure
•Maintenance
•Inspections

Industrial Ergonomics Consulting