Jeffery H. Warren, PhD, PE, CSP is Chief Engineer and CEO of The Warren Group. A licensed professional engineer in 14 states, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of North Carolina as well as a Master of Science and a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University — all with machine design emphasis.
Background Experience - A former research engineer for DuPont at the Savannah River Laboratory, Dr. Warren designed, patented, and built an incinerator to burn radioactive waste. He also taught mathematics and engineering at the University of South Carolina in Aiken. Later, Dr. Warren was chief machine designer and owner of Warren Engineering Company, Inc., which designed and built special machinery for manufacturing automation. He combined his passion for keeping people safe with his knowledge of mechanical engineering, machine design, risk assessment, and safety to pursue a career in forensic engineering.
Dr. Warren is a Certified Safety Professional in engineering aspects and a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator. He has investigated more than 2,000 claims involving property damage and injuries related to machinery, equipment, and products since 1987. Dr. Warren is a court-qualified expert in mechanical engineering, machine design, risk assessment, and safety. He’s also testified in several hundred depositions and more than 75 trials in state and federal court. He has successfully passed Daubert challenges. Dr. Warren was on the committee that authored the ANSI Technical Report, ANSI B11.TR3-2000 entitled, “Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction – A Guide to Estimate, Evaluate and Reduce Risks Associated with Machine Tools.” He regularly investigates personal injury and wrongful death product liability claims as well as property damage claims involving machinery and equipment in both manufacturing and construction workplaces for both the plaintiff and the defense. He has a reputation for thoroughly analyzing each case to provide precise, understandable, fact-based opinions.
Dr. Warren has a way of making complicated mechanical engineering, machine design, risk assessment and safety concepts understandable to the ordinary person. He also presents classes and seminars on topics ranging from investigation of machinery and equipment, unintentional injury claims, subrogation and SAFETYTHROUGHDESIGN®.
Areas of Expertise:
- Machine Design and Safeguarding
- Mechanical Engineering
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I recently worked on an interesting case involving a box baler. An employee of a butcher shop put some empty cardboard boxes in a vertical box baler and pushed the control switch to compact the boxes. After the 30 by 60 inch platen weighing 851 pounds returned to its raised position, the employee reached into the open space above the bottom door on the baler and began to clear cardboard from the bale tie slots in the bottom of the raised platen. Suddenly, and without warning, the steel pin attaching the platen to the raised hydraulic cylinder rod failed. The heavy steel platen fell and crushed his arm which was outstretched over the baler door into the compaction space.
Welcome to the third and final post in our multipart series of blog posts about a young boy's fall and serious injury at a public playground. In our first post we gave a brief overview of the incident and our investigation. In the second post we discussed some of the safety standards applicable to public playgrounds. In this post, we will examine some of the impact-absorbing playground surfaces available to protect children at playgrounds from injury. If you would like to read the first two posts, they are available here and here.
Welcome to the second part in our multipart blog series examining a young boy's fall and injury at a public playground. If you missed the first part in this series, click www.warrenforensics.com/2017/10/11/children-will-fall-at-playgrounds-what-shall-we-do-to-protect-them-a-multipart-blog-series-part-i/ to read it. In this post, we will highlight some resources that designers of public playgrounds can use to help ensure their designs are reasonably safe.
In 2011, a 5-year old boy was severely injured at a public playground when he fell through a second floor opening around a fireman's pole in a playhouse. He fell more than seven feet and struck a bare concrete floor. We are thankful that he eventually recovered from his injuries. The person who designed and built the playground was accused of negligence. A lawsuit ensued, and eventually settled in favor of the boy.
