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In the Guidebook for Airport Safety Management Systems aviation expert witness Mac McCall, A.A.E, writes:

The aviation industry always has quoted safety at the forefront of its priorities, and as a general rule, has demonstrated diligence in learning from its mistakes and implementing changes that lead to further improvement. This somewhat reactive approach produced a steady decline in accident rates until the mid-1980s. Since then, the fatal accident rate in air transport operations has remained fairly stable, despite a growth in traffic during the same period. This trend implies little improvement in safety on the operation/accident ratio and suggests that as traffic grows, the total number of accidents also will grow.

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Structural failures experts may opine on the National Association of Home Builders & Bank of America Home Equity Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components:

How many years of service can a home owner reasonably expect from the various components of a home? An NAHB study sponsored by Bank of America Home Equity takes some of the mystery out of the subject.

The life expectancies of the components of a home depend on the quality of installation, the level of maintenance, weather and climate conditions, and the intensity of use. Some components may remain functional but become obsolete due to changing styles and preferences or improvements in newer products while others may have a short life expectancy due to intensive use. The average life expectancy for some components has increased during the past 35 years because of new products and the introduction of new technologies, while the average life of others has declined. NAHB’s last such study on the life expectancy of housing components was published in Housing Economics in August 1993.

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For the International Building Code expert witness:

The International Builders’ Show (IBS), January 19, 2010, Las Vegas, is the largest annual building industry trade show in the country. Billed as “THE place to see and discuss the hottest products on the market and network with your friends and allies,” IBS offers more than 175 education sessions taught by industry experts.

You can attend the show and not be a member of NAHB; however, NAHB members are eligible for discounted registration fees. The International Builders’ Show is the largest annual light construction show in the world with attendees coming from over 70 countries. Show organizers state “We are proud to be one of the US trade shows to be chosen by the US Department of Commerce to participate in the International Buyer Program.”

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Building regulations expert witnesses at the The National Association of Home Builders work with other organizations to develop and revise building codes and standards that affect single and multifamily housing, commercial buildings, and remodeling in the areas of structural, fire, energy, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, ventilation, and accessibility. NAHB studies proposed changes to decide whether they improve quality at a cost that’s affordable to first-time home buyers and supports those that increase value to the consumer.

For more, see www.nhb.org.

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Building codes expert Dr. S. Shyam Sunder, acting director, building and fire research laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), says providing minimum safety levels in buildings is one of the NIST goals. “We shouldn’t stop at one set of elements, but look at system-wide building safety as a whole, which has not been consistently and thoroughly done in codes. We need to ensure safety and system robustness, regardless of the threat,” he observes. The lead World Trade Center investigator says this includes minimum robustness and structural integrity in all structures for various threats, hazards, and events that may occur in the normal course of the 100-year life of a building rather than designing against a specific threat, such as blast.

For more, see http://www.buildings.com/Default.aspx and http://wtc.nist.gov/.

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In Procedures for Evaluating Bathing Facility Slip and Fall Accidents, accident investigation expert witness Melvin M. Friedlander, P.E. writes:
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for evaluating the slip resistance of walkway and bathing facility surfaces are accepted, almost universally, by experienced and reliable slip and fall experts in the United States. The protocol for testing bathing facility surfaces is contained in ASTM Designation F 462 that is entitled “Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Slip-Resistant Bathing Facilities” [1].

This standard was published in 1976 by ASTM Task Group 15.03 and was developed specifically for wet, soapy bathing surfaces consisting of either combined bathtub/shower or shower stalls alone and for a test material that resembles the texture of the bottom of the human foot as closely as possible. The standard is based on test results from 50 different bathtub and shower surfaces with such surface materials as porcelain enamel, acrylic, terrazzo, ceramic tile, synthetic castable marble, sheet molding compound, pressed steel, cast iron, and fiber glass reinforced plastic.

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Licking County, OH, Common Pleas Judge Thomas M. Marcelain has ordered the Career and Technology Education Centers of Licking County (C-TEC) to pay $3.8 million in damages for uncompensated work to Claggett & Sons Inc., the General Trades Contractor on a $30 million school addition and renovation. In the Judge’s ruling both sides were ordered back into court to address punitive damages and attorney fees, costs that could push the cash-strapped center’s bill even higher. Claggett attorneys also intend to seek interest for the company’s damages accrued since 2006.

The 27-page opinion includes numerous examples of where architect Kimball and Associates, of Pittsburgh, made major mistakes, did not act in good faith and “misled them,” including keeping “facts” from C-TEC’s construction manager, a maintenance director with no construction experience.

“The architect took advantage of the lack of knowledge of C-TEC in construction methods,” Marcelain wrote as he described problems such as ventilation pipes designed to go through a steel beam near the roof. The judge wrote that C-TEC’s witnesses, especially its architects, were not credible and that Claggett demonstrated construction delays were not its fault. He also noted board members were not aware the project was 90 percent complete and the school largely occupied when they voted to terminate Claggett.

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Bank of America Corp. received a blow from U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in their civil trial with the SEC, as Rakoff granted a request from the SEC to forbid finance expert witnesses for Bank of America to use media reports to support their claims that shareholders were aware of the huge bonuses Merrill Lynch & Co. were offering their top executives.

The trial stems from the same judge who threw out a $33 million settlement between the SEC and Bank of America last year, clearing the way for the civil trial. In the case of two of the witnesses for Bank of America, they were going to use media reports as their primary evidence for asserting shareholders had knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the bonuses offered by Merrill Lynch.

For more, see americanbankingnews.com.

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The Ohio Supreme Court recently approved new rules governing pretrial procedures that will help ensure those convicted of crimes are truly guilty, according to Thomas Moyer, chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. The amendment to Rule 16 of the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure will require greater sharing of evidence between prosecutors and defense attorneys before trial.

One of the major rule changes relates to witness statements, which prosecutors are currently allowed to withhold until trial. Under the new law, witness statements would have to be shared with defense counsel ahead of time, along with other information from police reports. Defense attorneys have complained for the past 35 years that county prosecutors in Ohio have had an unfair advantage because they could withhold certain evidence.

Defense attorneys would be required to hand over witness statements they have obtained. Their criminology expert witnesses would also be required to provide written reports before trial or else they would not be allowed to testify.

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Professional engineering expert witnesses may opine on ISO 9000. Here is a summary of ISO9000 from the ISO9000 Council.

The ISO 9000 Quality Manual

The standard requires companies to write an ISO 9000 quality manual that defines how each requirement of the rather broad ISO 9001:2008 standard is applied at the company. In a sense, the ISO 9000 quality manual is a company specific version of the standard.

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