ARTICLES

5/7/2014· Elevators - Escalator - Automatic Doors

Door Defects & Door Related Injury Claims

By: Michael Panish

We are all used to opening and closing doors on a daily basis. Unless you encounter a problem with the function of your doors, you probably don't give their operation and component make up much thought. I am continually contacted by attorneys seeking my advice on an injury that took place because of an improperly adjusted or malfunctioning door. In this article, I am simply discussing manually operated doors. Nothing fancy or automatic about them, the kind where you grab a lever, push a plate or bang on a bar to enter or leave a room or building. So, if you want to learn to communicate professionally and simply with your door expert or even your building manager, read on.

5/7/2014· Hazardous Materials

Stored Energy Hazards and Accidents

By: John Ryan, BSME, PE

Stored energy is accumulated energy, which can release suddenly, potentially causing serious injury or death. Stored energy has many forms, including pressurized gases and liquids, stored mechanical energy, stored electrical energy, and gravitational potential energy. Stored energy is particularly dangerous because the hazard still exists when the original source of energy is removed. This issue of Clues will explain the various forms of hazardous stored energy, how these energies can cause damage or injuries, and how to prevent stored energy accidents.

5/6/2014· Crisis Management

Standards for Creating a Campus Emergency Plan

By: Bo Mitchell

More than one in four U.S. residents are students, attending kindergarten through college. Most of these 75.8 million children, teenagers and adults - not counting faculty and staff members - are on campuses with written emergency plans.

5/2/2014· Corrosion

Classic Methods of Corrosion Control - Summarized

By: Gerald Davis

Material selection entails picking an engineering material - either metal alloy or non-metal - that is inherently resistant to the particular corrosive environment and also meets other criteria. Variables that will affect corrosion are established along with materials that may provide suitable resistance for those conditions. Obviously other requirements such as cost and mechanical properties of the potential materials must be considered.

5/1/2014· Psychology

Amputation: Evaluating Psychological Injuries in Children and Adults

By: Dr. Jane K. McNaught

Amputation is an injury involving loss of function, loss of sensation, and loss of body image. It is not surprising amputees often suffer psychological difficulties following such an event. Further, these psychological difficulties can also result in long term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for the amputee. Often these psychological injuries and resultant PTSD can be difficult to explain to a jury. The forensic expert's presentation of psychological testing assessing potential PTSD is one part of proving or disproving damages. However, the forensic expert can better assist either the Defense or Plaintiff's attorney by addressing specific functions in the amputee that have been affected by the injury.

4/23/2014· Economics

The Petroleum Matter or Mess?

By: Dr. Kenneth E. Lehrer

At the present time, the fundamental question is whether the petroleum "event" will turn out to be a blessing or a curse for the United States, especially the nations middle class. The increasing price of petroleum, especially if it remains at elevated levels for a prolonged period of time (say 6 months or longer) could have a pronounced negative effect on the Middle Class. These effects can be broken down into three (3) major categories - direct, indirect and subsequential.

4/22/2014· Appraisal & Valuation

Tree Risk Assessment: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

By: Joe Samnik

The title is certainly an old play on words and, perhaps correctly, states the fact that no matter how radical a change the underlying components remain the same, as do the consequences. Such is true in many industries and ours is no different. Take the ANSI A300, (Part 9), and the companion publication, Best Management Practices (BMP) Series Tree Risk Assessment, regarding the assessment of tree risks.

4/18/2014· Warnings & Labels

Warning: Failure To Ignore Myths About Flu May Cause Flu

By: Dr. Gerald M. Goldhaber

According to news reported almost daily, we are and will continue to experience flu activity in the United States at record levels. Both the CDC and the Mayors of major cities such as Boston and New York have declared public health emergencies blaming the current raging flu epidemic. We all know the symptoms of the flu: aches and pains throughout the body; blocked or runny nose; chills and cold sweats, fever, fatigue or sore throat. Most medical experts agree that the quickest and safest way to prevent the flu is to get a flu shot and let the vaccine now on the market stop the epidemic spread of the flu. Sadly, as of this date, slightly more than 1/3 of our citizens got vaccinated.

4/15/2014· Medical - Medicine

The Role of the Small AO External Fixator in Supracondylar Rotational Femoral Osteotomies

By: Dr. John Handelsman

Torsional problems of the femur have been traditionally treated by a proximal osteotomy with internal fixation. We elected to perform femoral derotational osteotomies distally. Between September 1994 and April 2001, supracondylar osteotomies were performed on 38 femora in 21 children with torsional and angular deformities. The average age was 9 years (range 5-15 years). Twenty-three femora had excessive anteversion and fifteen, retroversion. All osteotomies were maintained by the small AO external fixator.

4/10/2014· Automotive - Vehicular

Buses and Motorcoaches: New Thinking about Crossing Safety

By: Ned Einstein

Drummed into my head as a schoolchild was the mantra, "Cross at the Green, Not In Between." This slogan still provides the basis for Today's thinking about following the pedestrian path to and from school or a student's bus stop. When last year, a study of 7,000 pedestrian accidents in New York City over a four-year period was released, its findings turned this century-old cliché on its head. The implications for the pupil transportation industry are dramatic, and should awaken all of us to a new reality that may save hundreds if not thousands of lives a year, since most vehicle-pedestrian accidents happen to students walking or cycling to school, as well most of those traveling by schoolbus who are struck when crossing by third-party vehicles.