ARTICLES

9/26/2013· Failure Analysis

Forensic Clues: Seat Belt Failure

By: John Ryan, BSME, PE

In 2007, an estimated 15,147 lives were saved from seat belt use. Seat belts save five times more lives than airbags, according to statistics released by NHTSA. Seat belt use has increased over the years, due to cultural trends, and possibly due to the enactment of seat belt use laws. Seat belt systems do not always function as predicted. Seat belt systems can fail during a collision, often resulting in serious injury or death to the vehicle occupant.

9/24/2013· Transportation

Buses and Motorcoaches: The Steel Wave

By: Ned Einstein

There are plenty of things obvious to almost any adult, motorist or pedestrian about large vehicles. The most obvious is their size and mass. But at the other end of the spectrum lie nuances rarely understood by anyone who has not driven a vehicle with a long wheelbase: The way such a vehicle turns, and the way its tires "track" compared to those of a typical automobile, van or pickup truck.

9/23/2013· Elevators - Escalator - Automatic Doors

The Ins and Outs of Automatic Door Operation

By: Michael Panish

A basic primer in how they work, what to look for, and how to analyze defects vs. deferred maintenance. Expert door contractor, Michael Panish, takes you through the basics for your case. A basic primer about Automatic Door functions.

9/19/2013· Psychiatry

Peritraumatic Reactions and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Psychiatrically Impaired Youth

By: Dr. Jeffrey Sugar

We examine the consumer-welfare implications of Google's project to scan a large proportion of the world's books into digital form and to make these works accessible to consumers through Google Book Search (GBS). In response to a class action alleging copyright infringement, Google has agreed to a settlement with the plaintiffs, which include the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers.

9/10/2013· Oil & Gas

Creating World Certainty Via Petroleum Price Stability

By: Dr. Kenneth E. Lehrer

The certainty created by a set price for petroleum should tend to create stability in many other sectors of the economy. Certainty in petroleum pricing should lead to certainty in the industrial sector and to a degree of certainty in the world’s financial sectors, namely less volatility for interest rates and other debt instruments. A higher level of certainty in the financial markets and the petrochemical markets should foster an arena for world growth and stability.

9/4/2013· Construction

Developing Subcontract Pricing As Applied to Building Construction

By: Long International

ABSTRACT - This paper provides guidelines to commercial construction cost engineers for the development of a plan for obtaining and utilizing subcontractor cost information for use in bidding, procurement, scheduling, change order management, and claim management. The paper is based upon personal field experience gained in cost engineering, scheduling, bidding, planning, contracting, and claim analyses.

8/26/2013· Accident Investigation & Reconstruction

Forensic Clues: Tractor Accidents and Rollover Protective Structures

By: John Ryan, BSME, PE

Farming is a dangerous occupation. Tractor rollover accidents have been killing people since the 1920's. In 1990, the National Safety Council estimated 460 people were killed while operating tractors. Tractor rollover caused 239 of these fatalities. Another estimate suggests a more conservative number of annual fatalities - 132, that are the result of tractor rollover accidents. In a four-year period in Pennsylvania alone, 72 people died as a result of tractor rollover accidents.

8/21/2013· Transportation

Overcoming Ambiguity with Exaggeration

By: Ned Einstein

As NBT readers of my past columns well know, my perspective on accidents and their causation is pretty skewed because I spend most of my professional time examining their details.

8/19/2013· Crisis Management

What You Need to Know About Campus Emergency Drills: Compliance, Legal, Liability, and Operational Issues

By: Bo Mitchell

Most campus administrators regard evacuation drills as a straightforward obligation on the school calendar. Activate the alarm; students file out bored; students file back in really bored; end of drill. A no-brainer, right?

8/13/2013· Construction

Construction Claims For Variation in Quantity

By: Long International

A component of a construction claim often relates to the cost, quantity, and quality of the materials that the contractor installed on a project. The contractor frequently purchases these materials and agrees to install the quantities of materials on a unit price basis, i.e., a unit price that includes both the cost of the materials and the cost to install them.