Category: Accident Analysis / Reconstruction Injury from a Slip and Fall in a Steel Warehouse TASA ID: 1006 A maintenance worker was working in the storage facility. Her duties were to clean the area as needed in order to remove the oil from the floor. She was walking behind a powered floor scrubber, operating it to move forward, when she slipped and fell backwards. The fall caused her right arm to come in contact with the edge of an adjacent steel coil . . . Read more
Category: Accident Analysis / Reconstruction, Chemicals / Toxic Substances, Construction, Personal Injury, Safety Hidden Hazards of Confined Space TASA ID: 3404 Frequent headlines in breaking news stories convey the tragic results of yet another confined space fatality accident. With fatality statistics indicating that more than 60 percent of rescues in confined spaces result in a workplace fatality. Since most of these cases are fully preventable, sadly they involve local firefighters responding to trapped workers injured on the job. A common misunderstanding many people share is that local firefighters respond to emergencies fully equipped as technical rescuers. Having experience in structural fire control or vehicle emergency response doesn’t necessarily qualify one as a technical rescuer. Comprehensive training, practical experience, and a working knowledge can adequately prepare responders to engage as rescue professionals, not before. Read more
Category: Accident Analysis / Reconstruction, Auto Safety, Automotive/Trucking, Transportation Event Data Recorders (EDR) and the importance of evaluating the data with the available physical evidence This expert has retired from practice TASA ID: This EDR data, as I tell jurors, is only as good as the paper it is printed on. The EDR data cannot tell how a collision took place of if the speed recorded by the EDR was the actual speed of the vehicle. Was the vehicle sliding on ice or was it rolling over? The collision reconstructionist must be critical of the EDR Data... Read more
Category: Accident Analysis / Reconstruction, Athletics, Premises Liability, Safety Inappropriate Buffer Zones in Sports and Recreation May Lead to Litigation TASA ID: 658 A young girl in a daycare gymnasium ran to access a low trampoline which was in close proximity to an unpadded wall. She tripped on the egress of the mat ramp, sustaining a head injury. Three of the gymnasium walls were padded, while the fourth was not padded, thus creating a double standard of care. There have been many sport/recreation litigation cases in which the proximate cause for the injury is related directly to inappropriate safety zones on the court or field, or in the gym. Read more
Category: Accident Analysis / Reconstruction Pitfalls for Low Speed Injury Defense TASA ID: 399 Imagine, for a moment, a rear-end collision takes place, where the plaintiff sitting in the driver's seat of his struck vehicle reports to have injuries similar to shoulder, neck and back strains. With no apparent damage to either vehicle, a collision reconstructionist estimates a collision speed of below 5 MPH. Read more
