10/11/2018· OSHA
Use of OSHA as Standard of Care in Negligence Cases-Expert Safety Witness Role
By: Greg Gerganoff
When personal injury events occur legal negligence actions may arise. Common law negligence is established by plaintiff showing defendant owed plaintiff a legal duty, to conform to a standard of care, defendant breached that duty, plaintiff suffered injury and there is a causal relationship between the breach and injury.
10/8/2018· Chemical Industry
How a Central Indian Town Changed the United States Code of Federal Regulations
On December 3, 1984, at a pesticide ingredient manufacturing facility owned by Union Carbide, a leak occurred in the Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) plant. Due to the toxic nature of the gases released and the plant's proximity to local residences, the death toll was in the thousands; both plant workers and nearby residents. The first recorded public meeting in response to this incident was on December 9th, in Institute, WV, the site of Union Carbide's only US MIC production unit. Full disclosure: my father was a research & development chemist for Union Carbide and Institute is about 10 miles down the Kanawha River from my hometown of Charleston, WV.
10/4/2018· Telecommunication
Analyst Angle: 5G Introduction Checklist
By: Keith Mallinson
There is plenty of enthusiasm and quite a bit of hype in various quarters about upcoming 5G; but will it be worthwhile for everyone?
9/28/2018· Transportation
Safety Compromises, Part 10: Passenger Assistance -- Standards, Practices and Disincentives
By: Ned Einstein
An industry outsider (say, a juror) might consider the variation in passenger assistance within the public transportation industry alarming. Exploring a single theme like boarding and alighting illustrates the extremes
9/13/2018· Accident Prevention & Safety
By: Jeffrey Warren and Aron Olson
Welcome to the second part in our multipart blog series examining a young boy's fall and injury at a public playground. If you missed the first part in this series, click www.warrenforensics.com/2017/10/11/children-will-fall-at-playgrounds-what-shall-we-do-to-protect-them-a-multipart-blog-series-part-i/ to read it. In this post, we will highlight some resources that designers of public playgrounds can use to help ensure their designs are reasonably safe.
9/12/2018· Intellectual Property
Development of Innovative New Standards Jeopardised by IEEE Patent Policy
By: Keith Mallinson
In March 2015, IEEE significantly amended its patent policy in what was couched as an "update" but that seeks to significantly revise commitments from parties holding patent claims essential to IEEE standards to license those rights on reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms. Changes disallow patent holders from receiving any value attributable to the standards, require licensing at the smallest saleable patent practicing unit level, and deny these rights holders entitlement to seek an injunction against an unlicensed implementer until appellate review is exhausted. IEEE’s stated objective was to protect implementers from patent holdup, which was alleged without any substantiation.[1] IEEE is promoting, by reducing technology licensing costs, the short-term interests of certain implementers while undermining standard-essential patent values and the ability of SEP owners to receive adequate compensation, they are entitled to, from licensing their SEPs.
9/7/2018· Aerosols - Aerosol Products
The Aerosol Laboratory: Safety Check - Ignition Source
By: John Chadwick
I have been wandering around the aerosol industry for the last 35+ years both as an employee of major CPG companies, and, for the past 15 years as an independent aerosol technical consultant. While the attention to safety issues has dramatically improved over time, I am still amazed how often the simplest safety precautions are sometimes overlooked when filling aerosols with flammable propellants. I'll save my horror stories for another time, except for one particularly relevant example at the end of this article.
9/5/2018· Transportation
Safety Compromises, Part 9: Rolling Turns and Sharp Turns
By: Ned Einstein
It might seem obvious that a bus driver would know how to properly turn a vehicle with a long wheelbase. Yet it is surprising how many are not taught to. More interesting, bus drivers often do not have the time to.
8/28/2018· Electrical - Electrocution
Testing... Testing... Is This Thing On?
By: Thomas J. Kelly
Many people just take for granted that something is just going to work, and in many cases assume that it will work forever. One such device that does not get enough attention is the Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI). Simply put, a GFCI is a protective device that compares the current flowing on the hot and neutral wires of the circuit and will "trip" to disconnect power to the circuit if a small imbalance of current is detected. The imbalance of current is an indication of a dangerous alternate path for the current to flow from a damaged line cord or a fault inside an appliance and constitutes a shock hazard to a person.
8/27/2018· Sexual Abuse - Molestation - Harassment
Date Rape – a Medicine Cabinet of Assault
By: Dr. Sanjay Adhia
Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault (DFSA) is the use of drugs and/or alcohol by a sexual predator to render a victim incapacitated and unable to fight back against a sexual assault. A side effect of many "Date Rape" or "Club Drugs" is also anterograde amnesia, the inability to recall what happened while drugged, increasing a predator's belief he will "get away with it." Those odds are shifting, but attorneys, Courts and potential victims are better served if they understand some of the drugs used and their impact on mind and body.
