Human Factors Expert Witnesses: 17

Dr. C.J. Abraham, P.E. is a Licensed Professional Safety Engineer with over thirty five years of international experience consulting to insurance companies, municipalities, government agencies, and the legal profession. He provides consultation to International corporations in the areas of New Product Development, Manufacturing, Packaging, Warnings and Instructions. 

Dr Abraham's services include Expert Witness Testimony for both Plaintiff and Defense in matters involving Personal Injury and Product Liability. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Product Liability - Design, Manufacturing and Marketing Defects, Involving Damage, Injury or Fatality
• Equipment Failures - Proximal Cause of Failure with Contributing Factors
• Human Factors, Visibility, Ergonomics, and General Research Issues - Product Usability, Warnings, Instructions, Perception, Reaction Time, Visibility and Conspicuity Issues
• Construction, OSHA, and Safety Engineering - Regulatory and Safety Issues
• Industrial Projects
• Power Utility - Service and Equipment Failures

Dr. Randy Atlas AIA , CPP is a Registered Architect, NCARB certified, and he practices Criminal Justice Architecture and Environmental Security Design. Atlas is a certified protection professional (CPP) with the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS), and is an appointed member of the ASIS Security Architecture and Engineering Committee. Atlas has his doctorate in criminology and a masters of architecture. Dr Atlas is a Fellow  member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Dr. Atlas has taught CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) and criminal justice courses at Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University, and the University of Miami, Keiser University, and he is a trainer with the National Crime Prevention Institute at the University of Louisville. Dr. Atlas has been a technical Assistance consultant with the National Institute of Justice, National Institute of Corrections, and the Florida Department of Corrections and U.S. HUD Drug Elimination CPTED Program.

He has conducted ADA accessibility compliance audits for private and public sector clients, and served as an expert witness on over 200 premises liability lawsuits.

Dr. Atlas has been a speaker and trainer at security conferences from New Delhi, India to Seattle, Washington and has written over 200 articles in various publications on security, safety, and counter terrorism issues.

John V. Sabel is a retired Boeing 787 Captain with a Part 121 air carrier and an attorney. His more than 47 years in the aviation industry include experience as a check airman, FAA Aircrew Program Designee, and member of his pilot union's Safety and Accident Investigation Committees. 

John has logged over 23,000 flight hours in domestic and international operations and holds type ratings in the EMB-110, DC-9/MD-80, B-737, B-757/B-767, B-787, A-319/A-320/A-321; Flight Engineer certificate; Certified Flight Instructor certificate; Ground Instructor certificates; and Remote Pilot Small Unmanned Aircraft System certificate.

John has participated in NTSB accident investigations as a member of his pilot union's safety committee. He was a member of the 2011 Air Carrier Safety and Pilot Training Aviation Rulemaking Committee. He teaches Aviation Law, Aviation Safety, Aviation Regulations, Human Factors, Crew Resource Management, and other aviation courses as an adjunct faculty member at several universities.

Litigation Support - As an attorney with the expertise of an experienced airline transport pilot, John has the experience to examine technical issues and provide guidance and recommendations throughout all stages of litigation, from discovery through appeal.

Areas of Expertise:

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Keith M. Cianfrani, MAS, CRSP, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, the founder and owner, has over 30 years of aviation experience. He is a master army aviator, aviation safety officer, commercial pilot, instructor pilot, and was an accident investigator for the U.S. Army Safety Center.

Background - Mr. Cianfrani is rated in both rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft. As a safety officer, he has managed safety programs in organizations with over 100 aircraft stationed throughout 5 states. Mr. Cianfrani is currently an instructor for Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Kansas State University. He is also presently attending Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) as a PhD Student in Aviation Science.

Mr. Cianfrani is a certified Flight Instructor (CFI) and has also worked in the civilian, commercial aviation industry. He has been flying for companies such as Petroleum Helicopters, Damin Aviation, Keystone Helicopters, Island Helicopters, and Chopper 6 and Chopper 3 in Philadelphia. He also has experience in the flight for life, aero medical evacuation industry.

Litigation Support - Keith Cianfrani specializes in Human Factors and Material Failure in Aviation Accident Investigations. He serves as an aviation safety consultant for the Federal Aviation Administration and FIT. An IS-BAO Certified Safety Auditor, he provides safety evaluations in accordance with Federal Aviation Regulations. His services are available nationally and internationally and include written reports, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

View Keith Cianfrani's Consulting Profile.

Carl Berkowitz, PE, Ph.D., AICP, is a Transportation and Traffic Engineering expert with almost 50 years of expertise. He's held various managerial and administrative positions in the transportation industry, government, private, and academic sectors.

Dr. Berkowitz has extensive multi-modal experience in planning, design, engineering, safety, security, construction, maintenance, operations, and management. He has written and edited numerous reports, studies, articles, and columns for major publications, journals, newspapers and scholarly periodicals.

Background Experience:

• Transportation and Traffic Engineering Consultant, 1988 - Present
• New York City Department of Transportation, New York, 1970 – 88
• New York State Office of Planning Coordination, New York, 1967 - 70
• New York State Department of Transportation, Babylon, NY, 1963 - 67
• New York City Transit Authority, New York, 1962 - 63

Litigation Support - Dr. Berkowitz has served as a litigation consultant since 1997.  He has the background and experience to make him ideally suited to contribute important information at every stage in the litigation process. Dr. Berkowitz is able to explain complex issues in layman terms, suggest strategies, investigate and uncover facts, perform literature reviews, research, and prepare safety evaluations. He has been deposed / testified over 50 times in the last 5 years.

H. Landis “Lanny” Floyd II, PE, CSP, CMRP, CRL, CESCP, Life Fellow IEEE, has over 45 years of experience in Electrical Safety in the Workplace. His work has advanced the application of Human Factors Engineering, Electrical Technology, and Safety Management Systems in preventing occupational electrical injuries. Mr. Floyd retired from DuPont in 2014, holding the positions of Principal Consultant - Electrical Safety & Technology, and Global Electrical Safety Competency Leader. 

Click here for my current CV

Background Experience - For the past 35 years, Mr. Floyd focused on electrical safety in the construction, operation, and maintenance of industrial and commercial facilities worldwide for DuPont. This included safety management systems, competency renewal, work practices, and the application of technologies critical to electrical safety performance. From 1992 to 2014, he led the team that designed and facilitated implementation of a strategy for continuous and sustainable improvement in occupational electrical safety for DuPont Global Operations. This work enabled breakthrough performance in prevention of serious injuries and fatalities from electrical energy in DuPont facilities worldwide. In 2013, Mr. Floyd was invited to join the faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he teaches in the Advanced Safety Engineering and Management Master of Engineering degree program. 

Litigation Support - Mr. Floyd has been providing expert witness services and litigation support for over 10 years. His expertise is available to counsel representing both plaintiff and defendant. Mr. Floyd's services include consulting, site inspections, testing, reports, depositions, and trial testimony when necessary. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Lanny Floyd's Consulting Profile.

Dr. Kevin A. Rider, PhD, PE, CPE of Forensic Human Factors, LLC., providing investigations and expert testimony regarding predictable human behavior, particularly as it relates to motor vehicle and pedestrian collisions, premises liability, and slips, trips and falls, the design and use of products, and adequacy of warnings/instructions. His work focuses on identifying the Human Factors Elements that lead to unfortunate incidents, and what should have been done to prevent them. 

Dr. Rider is a Licensed Professional Engineer and Certified Professional Ergonomist, and has studied human movements and behavior, and served as a human factors consultant since 1999, including five years teaching industrial engineering and occupational safety courses at West Virginia University. He has presented at professional conferences, both nationally and abroad, and his research is published and cited in a number of peer-reviewed journals. He continues to serve as a reviewer for conference and journal manuscripts. 

Dr. Rider has testified over 100 times, and excels at educating attorneys and jurors. His services are available to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Driver Behavior - Cell Phone Use and other In-Vehicle Distractions
• Product Liability - Design, Guards, Warnings, Adequacy of Instructions
• Premises Liability - Sidewalks, Shopping Centers, Community Parks, Retail Displays
• Slips, Trips, and Falls
• Visibility and Lighting - Illumination and Conspicuity of Objects
• Workplace Safety - Defective Products, Gross Negligence or Misconduct, Third Party Actions on Worksites
• Machine Guarding 

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Auto • Airbag • Bicycle • Boating • Bus • Chair Design / Safety / Failure • Diving and Drowning • Electrocution and Shock • Elevator • Escalator • Fires and Explosions • Forklift • Gate • Golf Cart • Highway Design and Safety • Ladder • Law Enforcement • Lighting & Illumination • Loading Dock • Metallurgy • Motorcycle • Paintgun • Playground Safety • Press • Ramps • Rollercoaster • Safety Guards • Scaffolding • Seatbelts • Slip / Trip and Fall • Spas • Stairs • Swimming Pool Design and Safety • Tractors • Trailers • Trucks • 3D Scans

The four PhD and registered PEs at Miller Engineering are celebrating 40 years of Professorships at three universities along with providing services to Government, Insurance, and Industry—through research, publications, presentations, and expert testimony. We have a dedicated office with a full time staff of engineers, researchers, and technical writers. The span of our collective academic and experiential expertise covers well the Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Agricultural, Industrial, Human Factors, Ergonomic and Safety fields of engineering. The areas listed below are from actual projects completed in our 40 years of history. 

Page Engineering is a professional consulting firm that combines Ergonomics, Industrial Engineering, and Health and Safety expertise. They have served industry leaders in the areas of Transportation, Shipping, Manufacturing, and Health Care throughout the United States and Canada. Established in 1994, their approach is bolstered by years of litigation scrutiny and backed by extensive application of ergonomics, human factors, epidemiologic, and occupational medical scientific literature. They specialize in human factors and ergonomics assessments, including both acute and cumulative exposures and their hands-on approach is backed by extensive research and measurement of actual work exposure to occupational physical factors and workplace design.

Litigation Support - The professionals at Page Engineering provide forensic engineering and root cause analysis expert witness services to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defense. Their areas of expertise include:

George B. Page, CPE, is a Certified Professional Ergonomist. Since founding Page Engineering, Mr. Page has been providing ergonomics services, integrating multiple disciplines (industrial engineering, safety, health, business, regulatory) to provide effective results, whether in the application of job analyses and job improvement processes or in physical job demands analyses. His experience includes conducting ergonomics analyses and research in the railroad industry, primarily, and in heavy industry, in general, for over 30 years. Clients include Union Pacific Railroad, Kansas City Southern Railways, Association of American Railroads, FedEx, American Petroleum Institute, Food Marketing Institute, Food Distributors International, Blue Water Bridge Authority, USPS. His expertise includes job exposure assessments, physical demands assessments, accident reconstruction, and forensic engineering.

Greg G. Weames, CPE, CCPE, CRSP, is a Certified Professional Ergonomist who provides forensic services regarding Musculoskeletal Injury / Disorder Risk and expert testimony. Since joining Page Engineering, Inc., Mr. Weames has been asked to provide consulting services in ergonomics for over 500 cases involving civil lawsuit work-related injury/disorder claims. With training, education, and experience in musculoskeletal injury and musculoskeletal disorder as a focus, he applies generally accepted methodology in his analysis of causation to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty. Mr. Weames has his expert witness experience from within the railroad industry, which includes transportation, construction maintenance, mechanical shop, communications, and office environments that support a large variety of jobs and work tasks. Over the past 20 years of providing expert witness services, Mr. Weames has relied on independent, objective measurements of claimed exposures to occupational physical factors and the epidemiologic scientific literature, relevant ergonomics guidelines, and standards to support his opinions. Mr. Weames has given depositions and has appeared at jury trials in both State and Federal US courts during his years doing expert witness work.

Stephen D. Fleming, CPE, CXLT, is an Industrial Engineer / Ergonomist whose background includes analyzing work environments and work tasks using industrial engineering work measurement methods and risk assessment models for different body regions. His expertise is in assisting industrial clients in applying ergonomics to workplace processes, tools, and equipment, including all major North American railroads, FedEx, Ford Motor Company, Lear Seating, USPS, and the Blue Water Bridge Authority. Mr. Fleming has been acknowledged for developing and implementing a methodology for measuring and analyzing exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) and hand-arm vibration (HAV).

View Page Engineering's Consulting Profile.

Dr. J. P. Purswell, PhD, PE, CPE has extensive experience in Human Factors, Ergonomics, and Safety Engineering. He holds a doctorate in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech. He has taught Safety Engineering and Ergonomics in the Industrial Engineering Department at CSU-Pueblo since 1999. 

A member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the American Industrial Hygiene Association, Dr. Purswell also served as the Chair of the Industrial Engineers PE exam from 2005 to 2009. He continues to serve on the committee which is responsible for the preparation of the national professional engineering examination in industrial engineering. 

Dr. Purswell is the author of more than 20 publications and presentations on Product Safety, Occupational Safety, Printed Warnings, and Auditory Warnings. Examples of products addressed include silica, asbestos, cleaning chemicals, gasoline containers, and recreational equipment. Dr. Purswell maintains NIST-calibrated equipment for the measurement of light, sound, force, and whole-body and hand-arm vibration in addition to standard photo and video equipment. 

Litigation Support - An Expert Witness in the legal industry since 1997, Dr. Purswell has been qualified as an expert in state and federal courts across the nation in safety engineering, including safety analysis techniques such as Fault Tree Analysis and FMEA as well as product warnings / instructions and OSHA compliance issues. His services include site inspections, document review, drafting Rule 26-compliant reports, deposition, and trial testimony. He has been retained by attorneys for both Plaintiff (40%) and Defense (60%) more than 100 times, has been deposed approximately 50 times, and has testified at trial over 20 times. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Dr. Purswell's Consulting Profile.

R. Kevin Smith PE, BSME, MMAE, has been a specialist in Engineering Forensic Safety and Design for 35 years. He has consulted on over a 1,000 matters nationwide. Mr. Smith is a registered professional engineer and holds a BSME and MMAE from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He is board certified forensic engineer through the National Academy of Forensic Engineers. He specializes in Material Handling Equipment Safety, including lift trucks, dock safety, truck loading, conveyors, and aerial work platform safety. Mr. has been actively involved as a member of the committee that writes the Safety Standard for Low Lift and High Lift Trucks (ASME/ANSI B56.1) for over 30 years. He also serves on the B56.6 committee (rough terrain lift trucks) and the ANSI A92.5 and A92.6 subcommittees (self-propelled elevating work platforms). Litigation Support - Mr. Smith formerly worked for Triodyne, Inc. for over 15 years as a forensic engineer/principal engineer. As President of R. K. Smith Engineering Inc., for over 25 years, he currently has a laboratory for examination and testing, and owns or has access to varied testing equipment and tools. Kevin Smith has testified at depositions and trials on several hundred matters. He has performed hundreds of investigations into product failures involving injury and property damage, and has reconstructed numerous accidents. His expertise is available to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defendant. Mr. Smith also was previously on the Adjunct Math faculty at Prairie State College for 13 years. Areas of Expertise:

View R. Kevin Smith's Consulting Profile.

Stephen M. Raffle, M.D. is double Board-Certified in Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. Dr. Raffle has over 49 years as a clinical and forensic psychiatrist offering his expert opinion in Federal and State jurisdictions nationwide. In addition to serving as an expert witness, Dr. Raffle consults to attorneys, judges, insurers, and to employers regarding Fitness for Duty and Risk of Violence (Threat) Assessment:

• 5000+ psychiatric assessments
• Expert testimony in 700 depositions and trials
• Successful clinical practice

The job of an expert witness is to educate a jury, judge, attorney, and trier of fact about the forensic psychiatrist's conclusions and how those opinions were derived in a manner well-reasoned, skillful, and easily understood by every person, not only another forensic psychiatrist. In short, an educator. Dr. Raffle’s experience as an educator extends well beyond a forensic venue, yet underpins the key to his ability to explain his opinions.

• Prof. of Psychiatry, UCSF Medical School, 20 years
• U.C. Hastings College of the Law postgraduate course "Trial and Appellate Advocacy" instructing seasoned attorneys about the direct and cross-examination of expert witnesses, with special focus on mental health experts and licensed medical professionals, Psychiatrists (MDs), Psychologists (LCSWs / MFTs), and physicians in other medical specialties, 11 years

Stephen M. Raffle, M.D. & Associates' expertise is well-established in forensic assessment in the areas of:

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Dementia and Competency
• Testamentary Capacity
• Undue Influence
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Malingering
• Emotional Distress: Intentional & Unintentional infliction
• Emotional Distress: Forensic Evaluation to render medical-legal opinion
• Diagnosis and Need for Treatment
• Fitness For Duty
• Risk/Threat Workplace Violence Assessment
• Wrongful Termination
• Discrimination (ADA, Title VII, EEOC)
• Harassment
• Employment Litigation
• Medical Malpractice
• Catastrophic Injury
• Temporary and Permanent Disability
• Medical Records Review
• Assist in Preparation for Direct and Cross-examination of Expert Witnesses and Deposition of expert witnesses

Licensed in California.

More than 40 years experience: defective packaging; unreasonably dangerous products; failure-to-warn; materials-handling; warehousing; cargo loading and securement; falling cargo; insurance claims for loss or damaged cargo; falling merchandise; patent infringement; trade-dress infringement. Has testified in state and federal courts and knows how to connect with a jury. Has worked for Plaintiffs and Defendants. Services: consulting; analysis; cite inspections; exemplar testing; opining; report writing; testifying. Long list of attorney references. Self-employed consultant. Former employee at Fortune 100 firms. Former university instructor. Many published articles and speaking engagements. Knows how to combine theory and practice.