Construction Accident Reconstruction Expert Witnesses: 27

Dr. Adam K. Aleksander, PhD, PE, CSP, has over 40 years of experience in the areas of Mechanical Engineering, Human Factors, and Safety Engineering. He combines both academic credentials and active work in industry to provide a grounded perspective in Product Liability, Industrial Incidents, Warnings, and OSHA related issues. He is also a VP of an Energy Services firm, with over 35 overseas assignments related to forensic services, power utility issues, and equipment failures.

Dr. Aleksander has been a practicing engineer since 1972, focusing his Manufacturing, Consulting and Forensic investigations on Problem Definition and Root Cause Analysis of complex problems in confidential issues. His firm has experience encompassing an enormous variety of claims, from large $45 million dollar dam claims, to environmental clean-up claims, to small road construction claims. His litigation services often involve reconstruction, perception reaction studies, warnings, equipment operation, mechanical failures, industrial accidents, skiing, and bicycling injuries.

As an Expert Witness, Dr. Aleksander has worked with many clients, including plaintiff's and defendant's attorneys, both civil and criminal, attorneys representing corporations, corporations in the power utility area, and corporations that produce products. His services are also available to insurance executives with complex claims issues that involve industrial or utility related losses. Dr. Aleksander has been retained over 125 times in a wide range of technical investigations.

Litigation 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

View Dr. Aleksander's Consulting Profile.

Peter Petrovsky, PE, CE, ME , has provided services as a consultant and an expert witness in applied Civil and Mechanical Engineering Science, Building, Infrastructure, and Earthwork Contracting. His strength and experience is to successfully combine engineering and applied mechanics with the field experience and contracting skills. He packages civil, mechanical engineering, as well as, general, engineering, earthwork and paving and hazardous waste contracting into one package for the use of his clients. His services also include construction job site safety in fire prevention and personnel protection. 

Litigation Support - Mr. Petrovsky's shirtsleeve approach to problem solving gives him the ability to distill complex technical issues to a palatable presentation in the appropriate forum. Serving the legal industry for 25 years, he has been retained in over 600 plaintiff and defense cases, been deposed over 200 times, and given testimony approximately 100 times. Mr. Petrovsky's services include testing and analysis, trial preparation case analysis, deposition review and expert summary, evidence presentation, consulting, report writing, court exhibits, static and computer depictions, construction and engineering contract analysis, accident reconstruction, and interpretation of administrative regulations. He has assisted counsel on cases in California, New York, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Kentucky, and Nevada. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical Design: Machine safety and guarding, Strength of materials, wood, metals, plastics
• Materials Issues and Failure Analysis: Mechanisms, components and machinery; Pressure testing, fatigue analysis
• Accident Investigations: Heavy equipment accidents, bulldozers, backhoes, excavators; Cranes, lifts, manipulators
• Air conditioning and Refrigeration: Thermography services and analysis
• Civil Engineering: Design of Buildings; Residential, industrial, commercial site plans; Land development, site preparation and paving, drilling and boring; Public and private roadways, sidewalks, ramps, parking lots, lighting; Septic systems, sewers, public sewer blockage and stoppage; Scaffolds & scaffolding erection and accidents; Retaining walls and retaining wall failure; Foundation failure / structural damage; Plumbing leaks, water intrusion, explosions; Earthquake Damage Assessment and Remediation; Construction Disputes / Insurance claims; Stucco defects and failures; Job site fire prevention industry standards

John (Jack) P. Diehl, AIA NCARB LEED AP, has over 40 years of experience as an Architect. Mr. Diehl currently specializes in Forensic Architecture and Construction Defects. He is licensed to practice in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Mr. Diehl is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), and the International Code Council (ICC). He is also a LEED AP Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional, Construction Document Technician, and General Contractor California, "B" License. As President of The Diehl Group Architects, Inc., Mr. Diehl is:

• Responsible for field investigations, failure analysis, building code research, and development of repair solutions
• Performs technical investigations and research of suspected design and construction problems
• Verifies and compares as-built conditions, design parameters, building jurisdiction requirements and applicable industry standards of care
• Provides construction administration and quality control review for Type I and Type V building types
• Provides quality assurance, evaluation, and supervision of in-progress construction for major commercial and high rise structures for conformance to design, material, and workmanship standards

Litigation Support: Jack Diehl has provided trial preparation services and expert witness testimony in over two hundred (200) cases, residential or commercial, in support of construction defect litigation. He offers his expertise to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defendant. His services include arbitration and mediation. Areas of Expertise:

Forensic Architect Architectural Professional Liability Building Envelope Water Intrusion and Damage ADA Consulting Slip and Fall Building Code

Construction Defects Waterproofing Roofs Fenestration Construction Administration EIFS Consulting Construction Standards

View Jack Diehl's Consulting Profile.

Paul Eason is a Licensed Engineer, Nationally Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator and Forensic Consultant. His expertise comes from a strong background in industry and academia. In addition to his consulting practice, he is a professor in the Mechanical Engineering program at the University of North Florida, and maintains a graduate faculty appointment in the Materials Science and Engineering Program at the University of Florida.

Dr. Eason has testified in numerous trials and depositions in the following practice areas: Product Design & Manufacturing Analysis, Metallurgy & Materials, Fire & Explosions and Industrial Accidents

Areas of Expertise:

Product liability and failure analysis, Product Defect & Safety Issues including: Metals, Plastics, Glass, Ceramics, Corrosion, Fatigue, Overload & Material Selection

Fire and Explosion analysis including: cause and origin determination, product related fire causation, industrial process accidents, dust explosions, welding/brazing accidents

Ellis Litigation Support (ELS) is headed by Dr. J. Nigel Ellis a leading authority on fall protection. Dr. Ellis has more than 40 years of safety engineering experience. Based upon his unsurpassed experience and knowledge, Dr. Ellis has performed fall hazard assessments in hundreds of facilities and construction sites and has been retained as an expert witness in approximately 1000 fall-related cases nationwide. Dr. Ellis’ participation has led to multi-million dollar settlements/awards in a number of cases and exoneration of defendants in others.

Through his work with OSHA and as an ANSI and ASTM committee member, including providing comments and testimony before OSHA hearings, Dr. Ellis has been instrumental in the development of various OSHA regulations and ANSI standards. Dr. Ellis has written the seminal textbook, Introduction to Fall Protection currently in its fourth edition and published by the American Society of Safety Engineers and available for purchase on the ELS web site www.FallSafety.com.

Dr. Ellis is a founder and board member of the International Society for Fall Protection and is a frequent speaker at the national conventions of the American Society of Safety Engineers and the National Safety Council. Dr. Ellis also is a published member of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers and is a regular contributor to Compliance Magazine the Greyhouse Safet Directory.

ELS also draws upon its sister company, Ellis Fall Safety Solutions (EFSS), to offer expertise in a wide range of engineering related matters.

ELS Areas of Expertise:

Fall Protection – all areas where fall hazards exist

OSHA, ANSI and related building codes, standards and regulations

Ergonomics/Human Factors

Structural Engineering

Slips, trips, friction co-efficients

Hunter’s Tree Stand Cases

Confined Space Rescue

View Consulting Profile.

Over 35 years of experience in Mechanical / Structural Engineering & Design, Failure Analysis, Product Liability, Industural Asbestos,Pressure Vessel & Boiler analysis and evaluation of mechanical and structural components.

Extensive trial experience. Has been involved in multi-million dollar cases. Areas involved included:

- Piping & pipe supports - Structural failure of products - Failure analysis - Industrial asbestos - Seismic analysis - Fire protection - Pressure vessels

- Tanks - Construction - Heat transfer analysis - Environmental qualification of equipment - Welding - Product design - Patent information

Expertise in developing litigation rate-case exhibits and detailed supporting testimony, and in organizing case documentation into easy-to-use computer databases for trial use.

Envista Forensics is a global leader in Forensic Engineering & Recovery Solutions. They provide Cause & Origin, Failure Analysis, Fire and Explosion Investigations, Accident Reconstruction, Damage Evaluations and Equipment Restoration Services following disasters of all kinds. Envista has offered Consulting Services to the insurance, legal and risk management industries, as well as businesses, public entities, and universities for over 25 years. Their Experts travel globally from 30 offices located across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Australia and Singapore.

Envista's experience counts when equipment, systems, structures, or data have been threatened by catastrophe or litigation. Their experts and advisors determine cause and responsibility, and identify the nature and extent of damage or loss and provide a full range of solutions to protect their assets. Envista's technical professionals are trusted advisors and industry leaders. Their expertise is broad and deep, capable of withstanding all forms of scrutiny. Envista's services are available globally so that certainty is assured no matter where in the world it is needed. As the recovery from disasters has grown more complex, Envista has developed a comprehensive array of services to help their clients and has associates located around the globe to provide assurance no matter the type of loss or location of the disaster.

Envista helps attorneys quickly get to meaningful answers on the many technical issues at the center of a dispute. Their engineers have decades of experience working with both defendants and plaintiffs. They offer effective Expert Witness Testimony, with the ability to communicate effectively, build rapport with juries and judges, and maintain adherence to structured, methodical approaches in drawing conclusions are all extremely critical. Envista Forensics understands how critical the selection of an expert can be, and we understand what makes experts effective. Their court qualified experts have extensive experience providing expert testimony on a wide variety of engineering and technical matters.

Areas of Expertise:

Aviation & Aerospace Biomechanics Construction Defects Digital Forensics Electrical Injury & Electrocutions Causation Chemical Computer / Network Equipment Failure Construction Defect Disputes over Reparability of Damage Electrical Failure Equipment Restoration Fire & Explosion Analysis Equipment Restoration

Industrial / Manufacturing Equipment Materials Failure Mechanical Accidents Mechanical Failure Medical / Laboratory Equipment Product Failure / Liability Project Management Structural Failure Subrogation Utility & Energy Valuation of Structures or Equipment Vehicle Accident Investigation Workplace / Premises Accidents

View Envista'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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Christopher E. Janson, MS, CSP, CHMM is a Board Certified Safety Professional with 20 years of experience providing Accident Reconstruction and Failure Analysis services. Mr. Janson has held safety management positions with several Fortune 500 companies. He has also worked with a variety of firms as a consultant for the insurance industry.

Mr. Janson offers litigations support, expert witness, and testimony services for clients involved in safety related matters. His services are available to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense. Mr. Janson has been retained over 30 times in the last five years.

Areas of Expertise:

Accident Investigation Walking Surface Characteristics, Measurement Fall Protection Machine Guarding Product Liability & Design Safety Analysis Electrical Safety Ergonomics / Human Factors Lockout / Tagout Warning & Instruction Adequacy Retail Safety

Building & Safety Code Compliance OSHA Compliance Cranes / Scaffolds / Ladders Confined Space Safety Management Systems Material Handling/Fork Trucks Safety Equipment Hazard Communication / Chemical Safety Safety Audits Industrial Hygiene

View Christopher Janson's Consulting Profile.

Prof. Makarand (Mark) Hastak, PhD, PE, CCP, CRIS, is the Professor and the Dernlan Family Head of Construction Engineering and Management as well as Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Hastak has been involved with the construction industry for the past 33 years providing his expertise through consulting, research, teaching, and service to the industry.  Dr. Hastak is a world renowned expert in the area of construction engineering and management including process improvement, disaster risk reduction, resilience and capacity building, infrastructure management, intelligent planning for the built environment, cost control, project management decision-making, risk management, and strategic planning.  Dr. Hastak is a Professional Engineer (PE), a Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS), and a Certified Cost Professional (CCP). He  has worked on numerous projects sponsored by the Construction Industry Institute (CII), NSF, State DOTs, and City Agencies.

Dr. Hastak  has authored over 200 publications on process improvement, project controls, capital rehabilitation planning, strategic planning, and decision-making. He has co-authored a widely used book on Infrastructure Planning, Engineering, and Economics (McGraw-Hill 2006 and 2015). Dr. Hastak served on the Education Board of the Association for Advancement of Cost Engineering (2004-2016). He was Editor for two AACE books, the Skills and Knowledge of Cost Engineering (6th Ed. 2015) and the CCP Certification Study Guide (2nd Ed. 2016). He was also the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering (2009-2016). 

Dr. Hastak has given over 40 keynotes and invited lectures around the world. As a prominent educator and consultant, he also engages in developing training material and workshops as well as regularly teaching professional courses for the A/E/C industry. His services include consultation, on-site investigation, data collection, assessment, and reporting. He has completed the 30-Hour OSHA Hazard Recognition Training for the Construction Industry 

Dr. Hastak Lectures at the 2015 International Conference on Building Resilience

Litigation Support - Dr. Hastak offers expert witness services to attorneys representing both plaintiff and defendant. He has served as an Expert Witness on six cases since 2017 and was deposed on two plus one evidence deposition. His services include case reviews, written reports, depositions, arbitrations, and trial testimony as needed. 

Areas of Expertise:

Construction Engineering Construction Management Cost Overruns Schedule Delays Construction Safety Modular Construction Patent Infringement

Factory Built Construction Infrastructure Planning Data Center Construction Project Risk Management Disaster Recovery / Disaster Mitigation Trade Secrets Misappropriation Contracts & Warranties

View Dr. Hastak's Consulting Profile.

Michael Fagan, QEC, is a nationally recognized Elevator Consultant with over 50 years of industry experience in elevator Design, Construction, Modernization, Maintenance, and Repair. 

As a Managing Partner at JSG Elevator, Mr. Fagan interfaces with Federal, State, and Local governmental agencies and universities, owner representatives, architects, managing agents, and elevator code authorities in the locations of operations, new product availability, and reliability research. 

Mr. Fagan's background includes working with NASA, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, and the Veterans Administration on special projects, specifications for maintenance, repairs, and modernization. He has served as a National Elevator Industry Educational Program Instructor and is the author of numerous articles on elevator maintenance, modernization and repair for Building Operating and Management magazine. 

Litigation Support - Michael Fagan has been a court approved Expert Witness for over 20 years. He has provided knowledgeable research and effective analysis in over 400 litigation cases and has been deposed over 200 times. Mr. Fagan provides litigation support, including mediation, investigation, and technical services to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defendant, carriers, and manufacturers, in the areas of:

Construction Claims Accident Investigation Accident Reconstruction Elevator Safety

Wrongful Death Vertical Transportation Safety Engineering Risk Management

Steven Pietropaolo, PE, CFEI, CFII, President & CEO, is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of New York, amongst others. He is a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator and a Certified Fire Investigator Instructor.

Mr. Pietropaolo has over 25 years of hands on engineering experience including electrical, mechanical, materials, safety, fire protection, and construction. He has knowledge of codes and standards used in construction and industry including building codes, safety codes, and industrial codes. He also has extensive experience in Utility Company procedures / equipment and investigating major incidents involving electrical, gas, steam system failures, and construction accidents.

Litigation Support - Mr. Pietropaolo has testified as an expert witness many times in cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Federal Courts. He has been retained on numerous large multimillion-dollar property damage cases as well as fatal accidents and fires / explosions including those that resulted in injury.

Areas of Expertise:

Fires / Explosions Fire Protection Systems Construction Defects / Failures Construction Accidents Equipment Failures

Product Liability / Warning Property Loss Subrogation Personal Injury - Slips / Fall Electro / Mechanical System Sports / Recreational Accidents

View Steven Pietropaolo's Consulting Profile.

Marc H. Richman, ScD, PE, has been actively engaged in Forensic and Consulting Engineering for over 45 years. He has personally supervised and conducted over 3,000 investigations for individuals, attorneys, insurance carriers, industrial firms, state and federal agencies and commission, and police and fire departments.

Dr. Richman's educational background at MIT was physical metallurgy and failure analysis. He taught as an instructor at MIT and ran the analytical Metallography laboratory there as well as set up the electron microscopy laboratory at MIT. At Brown, he was director of the Central Electron Microscopy Lab and was very active in Failure Analysis and Fractography as well as Analytical Metallography.

Dr. Richman has investigated failures of offshore drilling rigs and propeller shaft failures(Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding), helicopter crashes on the Pan Am building and at Newark Airport (NY Airways and Lloyds of London), construction elevator failures (Gilbane Construction and Aetna), bridge failures (Mystic River Bridge upper deck - MassPort Authority), hydroelectric plant shaft failures (McCallum Enterprises), pressure vessel and machinery failures, military equipment and weapons failures, building failures and collapses (US Navy and others), and steel mill production (Italy).

Litigation Support - Marc H. Richman has testified for both plaintiff and defense in about 175 trials in civil and criminal courts. He has served as Technical Advisor to the US District Court (RI) on patent cases (Hon. Raymond Pettine) and has been a consultant for the US Naval Applied Science Laboratory, the US Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center, Battelle, Texas Instruments, etc.).

Dr. Richman has provided expert testimony from product malfunctions, to fatal car accidents, to peeling paint on the Pell Bridge, to the Pan Am Building helicopter crash, to water and gas main failures, to metallurgical examinations of murder weapons.

Areas of Expertise:

Forensic Engineering Investigations Failure Analysis Fire Cause and Origin Product Liability Accident Reconstruction Gas Explosions

Structural Failures Metallurgy Orthopedic Device Failure Product Liability Machine Guarding Instructions and Warnings

POWERPLANT Specialists, LLC., (PPC) is a technical services company providing highly specialized support services for Industrial Power Generation Systems, Cogeneration and Combined Cycle Power Plants. PPC specializes in Design, Performance, Forensics, Construction, Design Defects, Cost Analysis for Lost Operations, Maintenance, and Repair. PPC has extensive international experience and is OSHA Lockout / Tagout Certified. Areas of Expertise

• Power Generation
• Marine Propulsion - Conventional / Alternative Fueled Systems
• Microturbines
• Boilers
• Industrial Gas Turbines
• Diesel Engines
• Cogeneration
• Geothermal
• Landfill
• Digester Gas
• Wind and Solar Powered Generation Systems

Cory W. Bruner has 25 years of experience in Safety in Construction and General Industry. Mr. Bruner is a qualified Safety Professional and holds a Safety Management Practitioner Certification. He has 25 years of Safety, Health and Environmental experience and 15 years specializing in Concrete Pumping. Mr. Bruner has provided services to clients in the Concrete Pumping, General, Construction, Oil and Gas, Legal, and Insurance Industries. 

Concurrently with Propel Consulting, Mr. Bruner serves as Corporate Director of Risk Management, Safety and HR at Facility Solutions Group, Inc.  In this role, he oversees all aspects of Safety and Health including but not limited to policy and development, implementation, training, pre-qualification coordination, injury prevention investigation and reporting, site loss control auditing, management of facility safety trainers and staff, safety, and safety budgeting. 

Litigation Support - Mr. Bruner has provided expert opinions in numerous state and federal accident and injury cases. He specializes in concrete pumping accidents, and fatalities in construction, oil and gas, chemical process, and systems industry accidents and fatalities. Mr. Bruner is experienced with Federal and numerous State DOT / FMCSA regulatory compliance matters. He provides root cause analysis with corrective measures. 

Areas of Expertise:

Concrete Pumping Accidents Work Place Accidents Fall Accidents Roof Fall Accident, / Fatality Ladder / Scaffold Accidents Crane Accident Energized Electrical Accidents Power Line Accidents Pinch Point Accidents Lockout Tagout Concrete Pumping Injury OSHA Safety

Workplace Amputation Heavy Equipment Accident Blast Drill Rig Accident Power Tool Accident Power Tool Fatality Oil and Gas Safety Ammonia Refrigeration Accidents Commercial Vehicle Accident Parking Lot Trip / Fall Chemical Accidents Workplace Ergonomics Meat Packing Accidents

View Propel Consulting's Consultant Profile.