ARTICLES

7/17/2014· Accident Investigation & Reconstruction

Forensic Clues: Machine Guarding Accidents - Who is Responsible?

By: John Ryan, BSME, PE

Machine guarding accidents cause many accidents and fatalities every year, despite the availability of modern safety technology. In the years from 1992-1996, one study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported annual injuries due to workers being caught in machinery of 34,350. In 2012 contact with an object or equipment had the second highest workplace fatality rate at 712 deaths.

7/15/2014· Metallurgy

Damage to Pumps from Poor Upstream Pipe Welding: A Metallurgical Failure Analysis

By: Gerald Davis

Four, tri-lobe pumps were damaged and required extensive repair during the latter stages of construction for a modification in a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant. The economic loss was significant and the general contractor for the work paid the plant's owner for the loss. The renovated units were installed and are in use. However, the general contractor then sued one of its subcontractors - a welding contractor that fabricated and completed weld joints between piping sections on the inlet side of the pumps. The general contractor claimed poor quality welds in the piping permitted loosened weld fragments to enter the pumps during the required water flow verification of the system and this caused the damage.

7/8/2014· Education & Schools

Using STEM & Green School Strategies With Urban Youth

By: Dr. Virginia Rhodes

Establishing a STEM High School (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics), and the Aiken Environmental, Ohio's first public environmental high school proved to be successful strategies to increase student engagement and raise standardized scores in science. High-poverty urban students from declining academic and disciplinary environments produced significant gains on science test results and credit attainment towards graduation. Using multiple overlapping rigor and SEL strategies, students experienced "science immersion," project-based learning, and a social-emotional curriculum that emphasized personal development and team/community-building skills.

7/3/2014· Crisis Management

17 Mistakes Made in Emergency Plans: How to Avoid & Correct Them

By: Bo Mitchell

Most organization leaders believe their emergency plans are state-of-the-art. When, in fact, their plans are dangerously flawed.

6/30/2014· Plants & Trees

Back to the Future - The Future of Landscape Appraisals

By: Joe Samnik

The new 10th Edition, Guide for Plant Appraisals, is currently in the review and comment phase. This long awaited publication (if not Holy Grail) could be available in 2013. Having reviewed the publication I can, at this time, state with some certainty that future depositions will become much shorter and the ranks of the new unqualified landscape appraisers will be filled in large part from the current ranks of the qualified. As a book review goes, I shall go no further until such time that the 10th Edition is playing in a theater near you.

6/25/2014· Police Practices & Procedures

Reverse Sting Operations-The American Hustle: The Unethical Use of Reverse Sting Operations and the Creation of Crime

By: Michael Levine

Relying on data taken from 45 years of professional experience as a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) supervisory agent, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) expert on undercover and informant handling procedures, trial consultant, expert witness, and police instructor, the author details the evolution of the Reverse Sting operation and its related informant-handling practices, from a once valuable and effective investigative tool to a headline grabbing scam that has severely damaged our system of justice by obliterating the entrapment defense and turning the Reverse Sting into a way to make money for criminal informants.

6/25/2014· Product Liability

FDA Warns Against DMAA: Supplement Makers Agree to Remove DMAA

By: Dr. Gerald M. Goldhaber

In the November, 2012 issue of this newsletter, I wrote that the FDA was investigating reports of deaths due to the intake of energy drinks and was determining if energy drinks were safe. Earlier this month, the FDA issued a harsh warning against energy drinks and supplements containing the stimulant dimethylamylamine (DMAA), telling consumers to stay away from it while adding that the agency was "using all available tools at its disposal" to ensure that it is no longer sold. This is a formidable task because we as a nation spend more than $12.5 billion a year on energy drinks, shots and drink mixes. Although seven other countries, including Canada, had previously banned supplements containing DMAA, these products had remained widely available at supplement stores in the United States, including GNC.

6/24/2014· Expert Witnessing

How a Medical Device Expert Witness Can Assist In a Case

By: Karl R. Leinsing

Experienced Medical Device Experts can assist with a case in many different ways. First, they have industry knowledge of the medical device industry and can assist with prior art in patent litigation cases for example. They understand the technology and how claim terms are understood for one skilled in the art of medical device design, testing, and manufacturing. This firsthand information can then assist with proper claim construction and infringement analysis. Experience with medical devices product development can also assist in determining what is obvious in the field and what is not as it pertains to patent validation.

6/13/2014· Transportation

Schoolbuses, Transit and Crossing Orientation

By: Ned Einstein

In rural areas, children spaced far apart were once transported to school by horse and wagon. After the first day of school, the horses learned the routes and simply repeated them day after day, eliminating the need for drivers. The vehicles were cheap, and the engines ran effectively on oats. As our nation changed, pupil transportation's development reflected our increasing urbanization and, later, suburbanization. These developments included a new phenomenon known as traffic. As a safety matter, the need for pupil transportation grew to reflect a child's inability to cross streets or negotiate intersections, as verified by studies like the 1968 Swedish study "Children in Traffic." In simple terms, children below age 13, and particularly below age 10, do not possess the physical, mental and emotional skills necessary to cross streets and intersections.

6/12/2014· Elevators - Escalator - Automatic Doors

Manual Door Closers - Do You Have an Open and Shut Case?

By: Michael Panish

During the past several years I have been contacted many times regarding door injury claims related to manual door closers. In response to numerous inquires asking if I have published any manual door closer articles similar to the primers I have done on automatic pedestrian doors, I am offering this article for general information to assist attorneys in determining potential issues relating to manual door closer mechanisms.