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Review of Case Materials
Reviews records, documents, testimony, data, and other relevant materials and consults with counsel regarding technical issues related to the matter.
Provide Expert Analysis
Applies specialized knowledge and experience to evaluate the technical or professional issues involved.
Form Expert Opinions
Develops independent, supportable opinions based on the available evidence and relevant standards.
Prepare Expert Reports
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An investigation can examine the interlock’s intended safeguarding function, wiring or control logic, physical condition, machine configuration, maintenance history, and evidence of bypassing, defeat, modification, or malfunction. Where reliable testing is possible, the machine’s behavior with the interlock functioning can be compared with the condition documented at the time of the incident. This analysis can help determine whether the safeguard was operating as intended, had been altered or bypassed, had malfunctioned, or was otherwise unavailable without assuming why that condition existed unless the evidence supports that conclusion. OSHA describes an interlocked guard as one that stops or disengages hazardous machine motion and prevents restarting while the guard is open.
When servicing or maintenance is subject to hazardous-energy-control requirements, the analysis can identify the relevant energy sources and examine how the machine was shut down, isolated, secured against stored or residual energy, and verified before work began. Electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, gravitational, and other applicable energy hazards may need to be considered. Disconnect switches, circuit breakers, line valves, blocks, and similar energy-isolating devices should be distinguished from push buttons, selector switches, and other control-circuit devices, which do not by themselves isolate hazardous energy. Procedures, isolating-device positions, stored-energy controls, verification steps, equipment condition, and available event records can then be compared to reconstruct the energy-control condition during the work.
A machinery modification or retrofit can change access to hazardous areas, operating speed, control logic, guarding geometry, automation, maintenance access, or the way workers interact with the equipment. An expert may compare the original and modified configurations to determine whether the change affected an existing safeguard, introduced or increased exposure to a hazard, or altered assumptions on which earlier protective measures depended. Questions involving detailed mechanical design, electrical controls, functional safety, or control-system logic may require additional engineering expertise.
Manufacturing, +4
Food and Beverage
Agriculture Equipment And Machinery, +4
Manufacturing
Prepares clear, well-supported expert reports outlining methodology, analysis, findings, and opinions.
Provide Deposition Testimony
Explains findings and opinions under oath and responds to questioning during deposition testimony.
Testify in Court
Presents specialized findings and opinions clearly to judges, juries, arbitrators, or other decision-makers.
Chemical Engineering, +4
Manufacturing
Oil And Gas, +4
Oil and Gas
