Litigation Support:
Human Factors and Safety Expert Witnesses
Forensic human factors and engineering experts in a number of areas of expertise
Our consultants serve as forensic (the application of science to law) human factors experts for products liability, personal injury and employment cases in the areas of human factors, safety, and industrial-organizational psychology. We collect and review case material, inspect accident sites and equipment, and perform testing and evaluation. We have testified regarding many topics including: product design and warnings, children’s behavior, automobile and motorcycle accidents, accessibility (ADA, HUD), organizational issues, workplace accidents, public transit and premises liability. We have consulted on hundreds of cases and qualified as experts in Municipal, Superior, and Federal District courts.
Product Design & Warnings
Human factors research has found the most effective ways to design products and warnings. Design and warnings work together as a system to protect product users. Properly designed products and warning labels are imperative to minimize consumer misuse of products and to reduce legal liability.
Product design and hazard communication are often key issues in product liability cases. We are often designated as warnings experts to evaluate how hazards are managed including product design, barriers and guarding, and warnings and instructions.
Children’s Safety
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.
Our expertise include school and classroom safety, playground equipment, children and traffic, and more.
Motor vehicle, bicycle & pedestrian accidents
We evaluate how driver expectations, perception and the physical environment are involved in vehicle collisions. Our evaluations include bicycle safety, children and traffic, and how driver expectations can cause collisions with bicycles and motorcycles.
Accessibility (ADA) (HUD)
Our consultants conduct research and accessibility evaluations for both industrial consulting and litigation support. Our expertise includes evaluations concerning both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Housing Act (FHA).
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.
Workplace Accidents
Our consultants evaluate equipment, job design and training. We also analyze the effectiveness of organizations’ risk management programs in controlling workplace hazards for both organizational consulting and litigation support.
Public Transit
When a passenger is injured on or around public transportation systems, our consultants can evaluate the safety and human factors that resulted in the incident including environmental design, policies/procedures, warnings and the behavioral choices of involved parties. When people with disabilities are denied access or suffer injury while riding public transit, we can evaluate environmental design and the organizational factors such as training and adequacy of policies and procedures in order to determine why the incident occurred.
Premises Liability
Our consultants evaluate how behavioral expectations and building design interact as they relate to premises accidents. We consider relevant building codes, such as the international building code (IBC), as a standard of care for safety, depending on the construction or modification date.
