In addition to the traditional drowning risks associated with swimming pools, the dynamic environments of oceans and lakes include hazards associated with changing tidal and weather conditions. In these dynamic environments, Lifeguards are responsible for ensuring the public’s safety through consistent and vigilant monitoring of the waterfront and active management of patrons.
There is a shared responsibility for safety between lifeguards and swimmers. Know your facts about beach safety, the proper terminology, and industry specific standards of care.
Effective sanitary programs, employee training, and managerial oversight are the cornerstone of any safe food operation. Despite industry specific training and quality assurance programs, consumers are regularly exposed to burns/scalds, allergens and other contaminants.
The flow of food is a term commonly used in the restaurant industry to describe how food moves from the farm to the table. There is a shared responsibility for safety along the flow of food to ensure the safe consumption of food products; each party is responsible for their own share in the process.
Towing and Recovery Company Responsibilities
Towing and recovery companies are called to all types of roadway incidents. Common roadways incidents include: vehicle breakdowns; vehicle collisions with other vehicles, fixed objects, animals, or pedestrians; run off the road; and load shift. Regardless of the type of incident, and who requested the service, once they arrive on-scene, towing and recovery companies are expected to:
For more information on this topic:
According to US Coast Guard statistics, Personal Watercraft (PWC) were associated with 764 injuries and 44 deaths in 2011. The Marine Practice Group at Robson Forensic frequently investigates and reconstructs incidents involving PWCs; including issues related to operator actions, Rules of the Road, safe operating distance/speed, and proper lookout.
For your convenience, our PWC Expert, Terry Harvey, has created the PWC Anatomy 101 reference sheet. This reference not only labels the parts of a PWC, it also describes some of the operational issues that are commonly central to cases inovlving PWCs.
Since 1987 Robson Forensic has investigated numerous scalding cases; as a result of these investigations, we have determined that a majority of these incidents were caused by either 1) an improperly installed or set tempering/mixing valve, or 2) an excessively high temperature setting on a water heater. Either of these conditions can result in dangerously hot water and an increased risk of scalds. In some cases a lack of proper maintenance of the water heating equipment, an improperly installed or adjusted shower valve, and/or the actions of the injured person (or the entity charged with supervising the injured person) were also factors in the incidents.
Scalding burns are a function of the temperature of the water and the length of time of exposure to the water. For more information on Water Heaters, Shower Valves, and Mixing Valves, download the linked PDF.
In 2012 434,000 hybrid/electric vehicles including passenger cars, SUVs and pickup trucks were sold in U.S. These vehicles incorporate a variety of configurations to combine a conventional combustion engine with an electric motor paired with a rechargeable battery to deliver enhanced performance, superior fuel economy and ultra low emissions.
Despite the environmental advantages associated with hybrid vehicles, they may present unique safety concerns not associated with conventional vehicles. Key areas of concern include:
A Road Weather Information System (RWIS) consists of a network of Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS) connected to a computer. The stations are located adjacent to highways and bridges. Currently, all 48 contiguous states have environmental sensor stations and use RWIS; however, the majority of these stations are located in the Snowbelt states.
RWIS provides users, such as state Departments of Transportation, with the ability to make timely and efficient winter maintenance decisions. RWIS, especially for winter maintenance, can provide decision makers with critical information on the current and future condition of pavement surfaces. This allows those decision makers to be proactive in mobilizing maintenance forces to anti/deice their pavements so as to provide motorists with safer and more efficient travel.
United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania concludes that testimony of Robson Forensic's expert in biomechanics, injury causation and liability, in a case involving an amusement ride, is both relevant to the jury's determination of negligence, and within his area of expertise.
In the attached opinion the presiding Judge found that:
Based upon the setting, an individual with a disability can be known as a student, resident, patient, client or consumer. These settings vary and may include, among others, schools, residential rehabilitation facilities, hospitals, nursing homes and long term care facilities.
Regardless of the setting or the descriptive term, an individual with a disability that is served by an agency or system requires a Plan for services. This Plan changes in format and title depending upon the setting and State but essentially, is a document centered around a person’s individual needs that describe the services that person requires to reach his/her maximum potential.
This person centered Plan is holistic and inclusive. It is developed by a team of professionals, paraprofessionals and/or direct care workers with the individual and, when appropriate, the family/guardian.
Many reconstructionists prefer to rely on EDR data to provide an unbiased measure of pre-impact actions and impact speeds. However, there are times that EDR information should not be relied upon, or requires in depth interpretation, such as when:
When a vehicle impacts multiple objects the timing of the recorded events can be flawed or out of sequence, as data is continually overwritten. Impacts that compromise the electrical system may yield bad data. Data in the EDR comes from multiple systems, this data can be out of sync or wrong compared to Airbag Control Module's timing circuit and accelerometer.
EDR components can corrode over time. Also data can be overwritten or plain wrong if the download is performed improperly. Collisions and vehicle maneuvers that alter the wheels speed relative to the actual vehicle speed can yield misleading data. This can occur when the vehicle goes airborne, loses or locks-up a wheel, rolls over or is cut in half. Narrow and light weight object impacts are often either not recorded or the data is flawed. The duration of the impact also may exceed the recording threshold of the EDR.
Since 1987, the experts at Robson Forensic have investigated more than 500 incidents involving elevators, escalators, moving sidewalks, and other related equipment. When focusing on those incidents specific to elevators, three general case categories emerge.