Construction Safety Expert Witnesses: 30

Ronald Tyson is a Building and Premises Expert in the construction business for over 45 years.  He has years of hands on experience in the individual trades as a tradesman, subcontractor and general contractor.  

Mr. Tyson has been a Michigan licensed builder since 1967 and has functioned as a general contractor and provided supervisory tasks for Tyson Enterprises, Incorporated and other contractors on all types of industrial, public, commercial and residential construction projects since 1963. He is a member of numerous building code and standard authorities, including but not limited to IBC [BOCA, UBC] NFPA, IAEI, NAHB, etc.

Mr. Tyson's experience and expertise can help clients with contracts, safety, and other obligations as they may affect project control of contractors and/or project managers.  He can advise on the duties in new and remodeling construction and maintenance required by the premises owner.

Litigation Support - Mr. Tyson has served the legal community as a Construction Expert Witness for 35 years. He has worked for both plaintiff and defendant attorneys. He is available to perform onsite inspections, research, review litigation matters, makes drawings, interview litigants, and provides evidence for court, including correct building code and life safety statutes and standards as they may affect personal injury claims, construction, contracts, etc. and causation.  Mr. Tyson has never been disqualified in over 200 times in court.

Areas of Expertise:

Litigation Support - Mr. Stein Offers consulting and expert services for attorneys on issues regarding road, street, highway, temporary traffic control, runway, and earthwork; asphalt, concrete, coatings and other construction materials; designs, plans, specifications, CPM scheduling (Primavera) and contract documents; right-of-way issues; and work zone safety. Licensed in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Texas, he performs contract performance forensic investigations and provides consulting, expert reports, rebuttals, and testimony if required.

Areas of Expertise:

Certifications:

• Certified Construction Manager (CCM)
• Certified Primavera Basic (CPM)
• Certified Primavera Advanced (CPM)
• Certified LADOTD Structural (bridge)
• Inspector/Technician Certified Troxler
• Humboldt Nuclear Moisture/ Density Operator
• Lead Abatement
• Certified Quality Compliance Surveillance in Fossil Power Plants, Organic & Inorganic Coatings Application and Inspection
• Certified Traffic Control Supervisor
• Certified Flagger Instructor

John D. Shepherd, RRC, RRO, founder of Shepherd Consulting Services has been actively involved in the Roofing, Waterproofing and Construction Industry for over 50 years. He has spent 10 years as an active roofing contractor and the last 26 years as a Roofing, Waterproofing, Sheet Metal, Fenestration and Exterior Wall Cladding Consultant. Over the last 25 years, Mr. Shepherd attended about 1300 hours of continuing education courses related to roofing, waterproofing, sheet metal, exterior walls, windows and other various building envelope components. He is an IIBEC Registered Roof Consultant and Registered Roof Observer, a HAAG Certified Residential and Commercial Roof Inspector, a licensed roofing contractor in California and Arizona, and a Certified Building Science Thermographer. Mr. Shepherd has been retained in over 500 construction defect litigation cases, representing plaintiffs, developers and/or sub-contractors. He has been deposed more than 100 times, testified in over 20 trials and has extensive mediation experience as well. Mr. Shepherd is also an expert in analyzing insurance related property damage claims invoiving wind, hail, earthquake, fire and water damages Areas of Expertise:

• Construction Defect
• Water Intrusion Investigation
• Property Loss Damage Claims
• Personal Injury Claims
• Standard of Care and Building Code Issues Related to Roofing, Sheet Metal, Waterproofing, and Building Envelope

View Consulting Profile.

Michael P. Lawler, CSP, ASP, CHST, is a Construction Safety Expert with over 30 years of experience. He offers a unique combination of formal education and "project based" technical experience working on some of the largest construction projects in the United States. 

Litigation Support - Mr. Lawler's experience includes over 50 OSHA inspections and associated negotiation and defense preparation related to OSHA citations.   His background allows him to opine on OSHA Standards and Contract Responsibility with a demeanor of care and confidence. 

Mr. Lawler is an expert at applying OSH Act of 1970 standards, CFR 1926 & 1910 regulations, policies, construction industry practices, contract responsibility, incident investigation, and accident reconstruction. Mr. Lawler analyzes how post incident details and investigations should be completed and who is responsible per the OSHA Standard and construction industry practices. He is experienced in personal injury, catastrophic injury, and fatality cases. 

Areas of Expertise:

Michael C. Wright, PE, CSP, CPE is a Professional Engineer with over 35 years of academic, practical, and specialized knowledge of Engineering, Construction, Safety, Maintenance, Demolition and Training in general industry and construction activities. Mr. Wright's expertise is a definite plus in providing clients with leading edge information and insight. A licensed and practicing engineer, he rounds out his knowledge as a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and Certified Plant Engineer to provide an insightful and accurate understanding of the issues involved in a case. 

Mr. Wright has completed over 600 hours of specialized safety training, serves on ANSI and ASTM Standards committees and provides a thorough knowledge of OSHA Regulations, Directives and Letters of Interpretation. A recognized author, presenter, and trainer, Mr. Wright communicates the issues clearly for all to understand. His expert witness experience is a balanced blend of defense, plaintiff and OSHA Solicitor cases. He is licensed in 46 states. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Mr. Wright's Curriculum Vitae

Paul Gantt is a Safety Engineer with more than 35 years experience in the fields of regulatory compliance, premises liabiliity, the development and delivery of workplace safety programs and systems, 

After serving in the Fire Service as Chief Officer, Dr. Gantt founded Safety Compliance Management. He is the Pesident, and is Principal of a team legal expert. He is a Board Certified Safety Professional CSP), Certified Instructional Trainer (CIT), and a Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST).

Dr. Gantt has authored two textbooks and numerous articles in his field of work. He is a frequent speaker at national safety conferences, such as the National Safety Council and the American Society of Safety Engineers/Professionals. 

Litigation Support - Mr. Gantt has considerable legal experience in the areas of: 

• Multi-Employer Worksites – General Industry and Construction
• Regulatory / Code Compliance
• Hazardous Materials
• Premises Liability

Greg Gerganoff, CSP, Esq., possesses extensive experience in safety compliance and practice involving OSHA and MSHA.  He obtained is law degree from Western Michigan University, Cooley Law School and practiced general civil law for approximately 12 years in Colorado prior to entering the safety profession. Mr. Gerganoff earned a Certified Safety Professional certification and has 18 years of field safety experience in mining, oil and gas, construction, manufacturing, power plant outages, and light rail construction.

His professional safety experience includes OSHA / MSHA Safety field work and compliance with experience in the heavy construction, manufacturing, light rail construction, power plant outages, public schools, oil and gas, mining, pipeline, and trenching and excavation industries.

• Authorized Outreach Trainer for OSHA General Industry.
• PEC Safeland Basic and Core instructor (Oil and gas).
• MSHA Approved Instructor (Blue Card) for Surface, Metal/nonmetal.
• Member of the American Society of Safety Professionals.

Litigation Support: Mr. Gerganoff assists with discovery questions regarding safety matters. Safety opinions based upon statutory, administrative, judicial rulings and related industry association safety policies ancillary to OSHA and MSHA.  Mr. Gerganoff is retained by attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defendant. Some of the subject matter litigation he has handled include:

View Greg Gerganoff's Consulting Profile.

Mark E. Rieser, II, MS, PE, AIA, GBC, GEC has over 30 years of experience in the Engineering, Architectural, Construction, and Building Design industry. He provides his clients with a comprehensive knowledge of Engineering, Construction Technology and Construction Standards of Professional Practice. 

Background Experience - President of an “active” Design and Building company with a professional staff and Headquarter offices in San Jose and Los Angeles, and offices in Sacramento and San Francisco. Mr. Rieser has managed, designed, and constructed over 4,000 units to include high-rise, single family homes, condominiums, townhomes, podiums, apartments, and commercial buildings, His experience includes building and roadway design, construction, management, with designs of over 500 miles of asphalt and roadway improvements, tunnels, San Francisco Airport, Santa Clara Light Rail, Southern Pacific Railroad, Caltrans, and BART. 

Mr. Rieser has an insightful understanding of Civil / Structural Engineering, Soil Engineering, Transportation, Traffic Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Safety Expert, OSHA Standards, Architectural Design, Asphalt Design, Cost Estimation, Public Works Design Bidding and Estimation, General Engineering, General Building, and an Accident Reconstruction expert. “Our bids are not just a tool but are numbers that we be use to finish the work, accurately, on-time, and safely.” 

Forensic Construction and Engineering - Mark Rieser is a renowned forensic expert with the knowledge to safeguard clients from unwanted litigation as well as support both plaintiffs and defendants. He works closely with insurance companies and attorneys on various public, city, and state cases throughout the western United States. To date, he has been designated as an expert in over 550 Forensic Construction and Engineering cases throughout the United States. Mr. Rieser has been designated and testified Court as an expert in the following categories:

View Mark Rieser's Consulting Profile.

R. Kevin Smith PE, BSME, MMAE, has been a specialist in Engineering Forensic Safety and Design for 35 years. He has consulted on over a 1,000 matters nationwide. Mr. Smith is a registered professional engineer and holds a BSME and MMAE from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He is board certified forensic engineer through the National Academy of Forensic Engineers. He specializes in Material Handling Equipment Safety, including lift trucks, dock safety, truck loading, conveyors, and aerial work platform safety. Mr. has been actively involved as a member of the committee that writes the Safety Standard for Low Lift and High Lift Trucks (ASME/ANSI B56.1) for over 30 years. He also serves on the B56.6 committee (rough terrain lift trucks) and the ANSI A92.5 and A92.6 subcommittees (self-propelled elevating work platforms). Litigation Support - Mr. Smith formerly worked for Triodyne, Inc. for over 15 years as a forensic engineer/principal engineer. As President of R. K. Smith Engineering Inc., for over 25 years, he currently has a laboratory for examination and testing, and owns or has access to varied testing equipment and tools. Kevin Smith has testified at depositions and trials on several hundred matters. He has performed hundreds of investigations into product failures involving injury and property damage, and has reconstructed numerous accidents. His expertise is available to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defendant. Mr. Smith also was previously on the Adjunct Math faculty at Prairie State College for 13 years. Areas of Expertise:

View R. Kevin Smith's Consulting Profile.

Dr. J. P. Purswell, PhD, PE, CPE has extensive experience in Human Factors, Ergonomics, and Safety Engineering. He holds a doctorate in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech. He has taught Safety Engineering and Ergonomics in the Industrial Engineering Department at CSU-Pueblo since 1999. 

A member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the American Industrial Hygiene Association, Dr. Purswell also served as the Chair of the Industrial Engineers PE exam from 2005 to 2009. He continues to serve on the committee which is responsible for the preparation of the national professional engineering examination in industrial engineering. 

Dr. Purswell is the author of more than 20 publications and presentations on Product Safety, Occupational Safety, Printed Warnings, and Auditory Warnings. Examples of products addressed include silica, asbestos, cleaning chemicals, gasoline containers, and recreational equipment. Dr. Purswell maintains NIST-calibrated equipment for the measurement of light, sound, force, and whole-body and hand-arm vibration in addition to standard photo and video equipment. 

Litigation Support - An Expert Witness in the legal industry since 1997, Dr. Purswell has been qualified as an expert in state and federal courts across the nation in safety engineering, including safety analysis techniques such as Fault Tree Analysis and FMEA as well as product warnings / instructions and OSHA compliance issues. His services include site inspections, document review, drafting Rule 26-compliant reports, deposition, and trial testimony. He has been retained by attorneys for both Plaintiff (40%) and Defense (60%) more than 100 times, has been deposed approximately 50 times, and has testified at trial over 20 times. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Dr. Purswell's Consulting Profile.

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:

View Propel Consulting's Consultant Profile.

Peter Howell, PE, CSP, CFEI  has almost 50 years of experience in the Design, Operation, Maintenance and Management of Chemical and Petrochemical Facilities with positions such as process engineer, project engineer, maintenance foreman, technical manager, engineering manager, plant manager and vice president and general manager.

Mr. Howell has investigated approximately 125 incidents that occurred in chemical plants, refineries, pulp and paper mills and similar industries for attorneys, insurance companies and regulatory agencies. He has determined the root causes using methodologies consistent with NFPA 921, Center for Chemical Process Safety, United Steel Workers, and the National Safety Council.  The root causes determined were based on the evidence, Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices and federal regulations.

Mr. Howell has extensive experience in developing, implementing and auditing the elements of OSHA's process safety management (PSM) regulation and EPA's risk management plan (RMP). He also has extensive experience in accident and incident investigations involving fire, explosion, and release of toxic and hazardous materials.

Areas of Expertise:

The four PhD and registered PEs at Miller Engineering are celebrating 40 years of Professorships at three universities along with providing services to Government, Insurance, and Industry—through research, publications, presentations, and expert testimony. We have a dedicated office with a full time staff of engineers, researchers, and technical writers. The span of our collective academic and experiential expertise covers well the Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Agricultural, Industrial, Human Factors, Ergonomic and Safety fields of engineering. The areas listed below are from actual projects completed in our 40 years of history. 

David G. Shreve, PE,  is a licensed Professional Engineer in 18 states. He holds a certification from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), is a LEED® accredited professional for Building and Construction and holds a Certified in Plumbing Design (CPD) credential. 

Mr. Shreve has over 30 years of experience in design, construction administration and forensic analysis of Mechanical, Plumbing, Fire Protection, and Energy Management Systems for commercial, institutional and residential projects. He is also a member of American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE) and International Code Council (ICC).

Mr. Shreve joined Ivey Engineering in 2014. His primary responsibilities include forensic analysis of HVAC, plumbing, fire protection and energy management systems. He also performs site inspections, testing, research, product analysis and cost estimating, and is responsible for writing reports and testifying in depositions, hearings and trials.

EXPERIENCE (partial listing)
∗ Approximately 300 HVAC, fire protection and plumbing design projects
∗ Approximately 10 LEED® design projects
∗ Approximately 20 feasibility studies
∗ Approximately 125 expert witness engagements

View David Shreve's Consulting Profile.

Dr. Eric N. Brown, CIH, CSP, is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), with both certifications in good standing with the issuing boards. Dr. Brown holds a Doctorate in Public Health with an Industrial Hygiene specialization from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a Master’s degree in Public Health with an Occupational Health specialization from the Medical College of Ohio. He has over 20 years of experience in:

• Mold
• Health and Safety
• Industrial Hygiene
• Indoor Air Quality Exposure Assessments

Litigation Support - Dr. Brown has been a designated expert in hundreds of cases, been and has testified successfully in both trials and arbitrations. His expertise has never been challenged. His services are available to attorneys representing both plaintiff and defendant. 

Areas of Expertise: