Work Place Accidents Expert Witnesses

Bryan Netherland is a Safety & Premises Liability Expert Witness and consultant with more than 15 years of experience building and leading OSHA Compliance and Risk Management programs across manufacturing, logistics, and industrial operations, including Fortune 10 companies. Through Seek Safety Consulting, he provides litigation support and expert analysis to attorneys handling workplace injury, premises liability, and industrial accident cases nationwide.

Litigation Support - Mr. Netherland's work centers on standard of care, hazard recognition, and risk foreseeability. He evaluates whether a company's safety policies, training, inspections, and management systems met generally accepted safety practices, and produces clear, defensible reports built to hold up under cross-examination. Mr. Netherland is available for case evaluation, report preparation, deposition, and trial testimony for both plaintiff and defense counsel.

OHSA Matters: https://seeksafetyconsulting.com/osha-expert-witness

Safety Matters: https://seeksafetyconsulting.com/safety-expert-witness 

Premises Liability: https://seeksafetyconsulting.com/premises-liability-expert-witness 

Areas of Expertise:

OSHA Compliance Machine Guarding Slip, Trip & Fall Lockout / Tagout Confined Spaces Premises Liability

Incident Investigation & Cause Analysis Powered Industrial Trucks Fall Protection Risk Foreseeability Hazard Recognition Workplace Injury

Before founding his firm, Bryan led global workplace health and safety standards across global operations affecting more than 50,000 employees. He has further directed EHS programs for several national and international manufacturers. He holds the Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Safety and Health Official (CSHO), and Associate in Risk Management (ARM) credentials, along with an MS in Occupational Safety and Health and an MBA. Bryan is a Walkway Auditor Certificate Holder (WACH) through the National Floor Safety Institute.  He has participated in or led over 100 incident investigations and is trained as a TapRoot® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Team Leader.  Bryan currently serves as an adjunct professor of occupational safety and stays practiced at explaining complex standards in plain terms a jury can follow.

Michael P. Lawler, MS, 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:

Construction Personal Injury OSHA Construction Standards Catastrophic Injury / Fatalities Multi-Employer Worksites Failure to Train General Contractor Responsibility Sub Contractor Coordination of Safety Responsibilities Contract Application on Construction Sites Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWP)

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Fall Protection Scaffolds / Cranes Steel Erection Silica / Lead Confined Spaces Scissor Lift / Aerial Lift Equipment Accidents Amputation / Crush

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:

Forklift Safety and Operation Lock Out Tag Out/Natural Gas Compressor Stations Oil and Gas Safety Manufacturing Safety Construction Safety Compressed Gas Cylinder Safety

Crane and Aerial Lift Safety Mining Safety Traffic Control Plans / MUTCD Working at Heights, Employee Safety Training Fall Protection, Ladders, Stairways

View Greg Gerganoff'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 more than 100 times, and has testified at trial over 20 times. 

Areas of Expertise:

Warning and Safety Instructions OSHA Compliance Chemical Accident Prevention Product Safety Lockout / Tagout & Machine Guarding Trucks and Forklift Accidents

Power Tools Safety Hazard Communication - Audible Alarms Employer Safety Training and Supervision Perception / Reaction Time Ergonomic Work Practices Working and Walking Surfaces - Slip, Trip and Fall

View Dr. Purswell's Consulting Profile.

Page Engineering is a professional consulting firm that combines Ergonomics, Industrial Engineering, and Health and Safety expertise. They have served industry leaders in the areas of Transportation, Shipping, Manufacturing, and Health Care throughout the United States and Canada. Established in 1994, their approach is bolstered by years of litigation scrutiny and backed by extensive application of ergonomics, human factors, epidemiologic, and occupational medical scientific literature. They specialize in human factors and ergonomics assessments, including both acute and cumulative exposures and their hands-on approach is backed by extensive research and measurement of actual work exposure to occupational physical factors and workplace design.

Litigation Support - The professionals at Page Engineering provide forensic engineering and root cause analysis expert witness services to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defense. Their areas of expertise include:

Ergonomics Human factors Musculoskeletal Injury Biomedical Injury Analysis Biomechanical Injury Analysis Health and Safety Industrial Hygiene Physical Demands Assessments

Usability Testing Occupational Accident Reconstruction Biomechanical Modeling Vibration Measurement Compliance Occupational Risk Management Return to Work Regulatory and Consensus Standard Initiatives

George B. Page, CPE, is a Certified Professional Ergonomist. Since founding Page Engineering, Mr. Page has been providing ergonomics services, integrating multiple disciplines (industrial engineering, safety, health, business, regulatory) to provide effective results, whether in the application of job analyses and job improvement processes or in physical job demands analyses. His experience includes conducting ergonomics analyses and research in the railroad industry, primarily, and in heavy industry, in general, for over 30 years. Clients include Union Pacific Railroad, Kansas City Southern Railways, Association of American Railroads, FedEx, American Petroleum Institute, Food Marketing Institute, Food Distributors International, Blue Water Bridge Authority, USPS. His expertise includes job exposure assessments, physical demands assessments, accident reconstruction, and forensic engineering.

Greg G. Weames, CPE, CCPE, CRSP, is a Certified Professional Ergonomist who provides forensic services regarding Musculoskeletal Injury / Disorder Risk and expert testimony. Since joining Page Engineering, Inc., Mr. Weames has been asked to provide consulting services in ergonomics for over 500 cases involving civil lawsuit work-related injury/disorder claims. With training, education, and experience in musculoskeletal injury and musculoskeletal disorder as a focus, he applies generally accepted methodology in his analysis of causation to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty. Mr. Weames has his expert witness experience from within the railroad industry, which includes transportation, construction maintenance, mechanical shop, communications, and office environments that support a large variety of jobs and work tasks. Over the past 20 years of providing expert witness services, Mr. Weames has relied on independent, objective measurements of claimed exposures to occupational physical factors and the epidemiologic scientific literature, relevant ergonomics guidelines, and standards to support his opinions. Mr. Weames has given depositions and has appeared at jury trials in both State and Federal US courts during his years doing expert witness work.

Stephen D. Fleming, CPE, CXLT, is an Industrial Engineer / Ergonomist whose background includes analyzing work environments and work tasks using industrial engineering work measurement methods and risk assessment models for different body regions. His expertise is in assisting industrial clients in applying ergonomics to workplace processes, tools, and equipment, including all major North American railroads, FedEx, Ford Motor Company, Lear Seating, USPS, and the Blue Water Bridge Authority. Mr. Fleming has been acknowledged for developing and implementing a methodology for measuring and analyzing exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) and hand-arm vibration (HAV).

View Page Engineering's Consulting Profile.

Mari S. Truman, PE, has more than 40 years of experience in Orthopedic Product Design and Development. As Principal Engineer with her company, Orthobiomech, LLC, she acts as an R&D design and development consultant to the orthopaedic industry and an injury biomechanics and medical device forensic expert. Ms. Truman's design experience includes implants and instrumentation systems used to repair fractured bones, torn ligaments and/or to reconstruct spine, knee, wrist, hip, ankle, elbow, thumb based cmc, and other finger and toe joints for many of the USA based orthopaedic conglomerates and a few Asian, Australian and European firms. Having designed and developed implants and instruments used for both human joint reconstruction and skeletal trauma repair, Ms. Truman is named on 12 Orthopaedic Patents and frequently gives talks on implant design and injury biomechanics on topics such as: knee and thumb-based joint surfaces and kinematics, joint design, rapid prototyping, medical device design control, and injury biomechanics.

Litigation Support - Ms. Truman has been providing Forensic Impact and Injury Biomechanics and Orthopedic Biomechanics to the legal industry for over 15 years. She draws on her strong knowledge of FDA and ISO EN13485 compliant design control processes, failure modes and effects analysis, clinically relevant tissue loading, and design safety assurance, including device performance requirements and warnings, during her medical device litigation reviews. Ms. Truman has a strong knowledge of the production and quality assurance processes used in the manufacture, cleaning, and sterilization of medical devices and the effects of such processes on product performance.

Analysis of Traumatic Injuries Related To:

Falls and Fall Recovery Vehicular Collisions Assaults and Fights Projectile Impacts Occupation or Workplace

Failed Medical Implants Assistive Devices Orthotics Consumer Products Sports and Recreation, Occupational Overuse / Injury

View OrthoBioMech LLC's Consulting Profile.

Areas of Expertise:

Accident Reconstruction Biomechanics Human Factors Safety Accident Prevention Adequacy of Warnings Building Codes Coefficient of Friction Construction Defect 3D Scans Failure Analysis

Industrial / Recreational / Structural OSHA Compliance Premises Liability Product Integrity / Testing Computer Animation and stimulations Defense and Plaintiff Cases Civil & Criminal Educational Seminars Litigation and Non-litigation Mediation / Arbitration Services Court Testimony over 2000 x's

Auto • Airbag • Bicycle • Boating • Bus • Chair Design / Safety / Failure • Diving and Drowning • Electrocution and Shock • Elevator • Escalator • Fires and Explosions • Forklift • Gate • Golf Cart • Highway Design and Safety • Ladder • Law Enforcement • Lighting & Illumination • Loading Dock • Metallurgy • Motorcycle • Paintgun • Playground Safety • Press • Ramps • Rollercoaster • Safety Guards • Scaffolding • Seatbelts • Slip / Trip and Fall • Spas • Stairs • Swimming Pool Design and Safety • Tractors • Trailers • Trucks • 3D Scans

Randy Phares has been retained in 57 expert witness matters as of this posting and counting — 41 for plaintiffs, 16 for defendants. He has been deposed 8 times and provided trial testimony twice. No opinion of his has ever been limited, excluded, or disqualified.

He is not an academic. Randy spent 30 years running the operations he now analyzes — corrugated and folding carton manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, load securement and shipping — rising from general laborer to the youngest and highest-paid General Manager at Temple-Inland, a Fortune 1000 corporation. He has held almost every job in packaging operations: manufacturing, distribution, sales, design, safety, transportation, and running entire multinational business units. That operational history is why his opinions rest on industry custom and practice, and the standard of care actually applied on plant floors and loading docks.

He has run packaging testing labs and design centers, managed truck fleets and manufacturing machinery, and led world-class packaging operations. He holds U.S. Patent #5,672,412 for a recyclable corrugated pallet, cited in 36 subsequent patents. He has worked on projects in Asia, Jamaica, Afghanistan, Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe, the United States, and Canada. He is a published international author, a speaker, and a former President of the South Texas Manufacturers Association. Since 2019, he has been a Packaging and Procurement Subject Matter Expert for SGS-Maine Pointe — the #1 supply chain consulting firm per Consulting.us and one of America's Best Management Consulting Firms of 2022 per Forbes — saving clients over $10 million.

Honors and Awards — Best Achievement of Organizational Business Improvement in Manufacturing, presented by the Global Six Sigma and Business Improvement Awards, for a plant turnaround at Temple-Inland (now International Paper). Best Performing Plant Award for four consecutive years out of 26 plants at Gaylord Container (now International Paper).

Litigation Support — Randy Phares performs forensic analysis of packaging, loading, unloading, and distribution failures that caused damage or injury. Matters involve crated, baled, palletized, unitized, banded, or boxed products; loads in railcars, trucks, vans, and parcel trucks; warehouse racking and storage collapse; and injuries involving pallet jacks, forklifts, or manual handling. His services include comprehensive reporting, depositions, consulting, and trial testimony. He accepts both plaintiff and defense retentions.

 Areas of Expertise: 

Corrugated Packaging Folding Carton Packaging Boxes Crates Pallets Pallet Jacks Warehousing   Packaging Logistics

Packaging Distribution Manufacturing Load Securement Freight - Rail, Trucking, Air Packaging Workplace Safety Packaging Product Liability Packaging Intellectual Property Packaging Design

View Randy Phares' Consulting Profile.

" WHO IS AN EXPERT?
ONE WHO HAS ACQUIRED COMPREHENSIVE SPECIFIC EDUCATION,
ADVANCED AND CONTINUING TRAINING, AND EXTENSIVE SPECIFIC
EXPERIENCE TO GAIN THE KNOWLEDGE AND AUTHORITATIVE ABILITIES
REPRESENTING THE MASTERY OF THE SPECIFIC FIELD AND OF THE SUBJECT."

Nation Wide and International Expertise.

Timothy G. Galarnyk: Educated in Construction and Safety.  Continued Training in Construction and Safety. More than 45 Years of HANDS-ON Field Experience. Actively involved in construction since 1976. Equipment operator, member of International Union of Operating Engineers since 2004, Certified by ATSSA in Construction Work Zone Traffic Control - MUTCD since 1988. More than 1,000 Incidents Independently Investigated. 

Traffic Crashes in Construction Work Zones - Related to MUTCD Compliance. CERTIFIED by ATSSA in Work Zone Traffic Control since 1988. 

Construction Risk Management, Inc., is a corporation with experts in construction safety, structure collapses, construction means and methods, and construction work zone traffic control.  Investigation focuses on:

Bridges, Buildings, Residential, Industrial, Commercial, High-Rises, Marine, Highways, Underground, Water, General and Subcontractor Issues

Litigation Support - We conduct Forensic Investigations of Construction Accidents / Injuries / Deaths to establish the Cause. What happened? How did it happen? Where and When did it happen? Why did it happen? Who is Responsible? Depositions and Trial Experienced. State and Federal Courts. Defense and Plaintiff - Makes no difference as the case facts and evidence rules. 

Areas of Expertise (include but not limited to):

Scaffolding Cranes Rigging Earth Moving Equipment Aerial Lifts Forklifts Trenching / Excavating Falls Steel Erection Electrical Injuries / Electrocution

Confined Spaces Concrete Work OSHA Issues Bridge / Building Structural Collapse Trucking of Construction Material Steel Materials Reinforcing Bars Concrete Pilings Loading / Unloading Injuries

Michael A. Pollock, PE, USPTO, is a Mechanical Engineer responsible for the design and engineering of commercial, industrial, manufacturing, institutional, and residential venues, as well as efforts relating to services and products used in and around these facilities. Mr. Pollock's full CV can be viewed at cogentexpert.com.

Business and industries include electronics, safety and construction, building materials, polymers and plastics, instrumentation manufacturing, petrochemicals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, colleges, athletic facilities, textiles, coatings and resins, food storage, biosciences, supermarkets, inks & pigments, automotive, facility and real estate operations, agricultural, transportation, nuclear, healthcare, nutrition, retail, distributors, pulp and paper, packaging, utilities, apparel, and R&D centers.

Litigation Support - Mr. Pollock is a subject matter expert in Commercial and Industrial Engineering Applications and Projects, as well as engineering standards and applicable codes (ASHRAE, ASME, NIST, NFPA, NBIC, ASTM, SAE, LEED, ASCE, GMP, ISA, BOCA, and EPA Regulations.) He has engaged with local, state, and governmental officials and agencies regarding numerous matters over his commensurate years of experience.

Areas of Expertise:

Investment Engineering Economics Mechanical Engineering Standard of Care Architectural Standard of Care Construction Delay Construction Defect Construction Schedule Analysis Accident Analysis Metallurgical Failure Rotating Equipment Electrical Failure Chemical Failure Processes Instrumentation and Controls

Chillers Coatings Refrigeration Thermodynamics Water Treatment Steam Systems and Boilers   Power and Utilities Energy Conservation Environmental Impact Safety HVAC Project Management Product Development

Registrations

• Professional Engineer: PA (PE075410)
• American Bar Association (ABA) – Construction Forum
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Air Act Certification – Universal (includes Chillers, HVAC & Refrigeration)
• United States Patent & Trademark Office Registered (USPTO)                              

Forensic Consulting Experience

Warehouse Distribution Facility – Maryland - Evaluated a $10M (million) claim relating to purported construction defect claims by the 600,000 sq. ft. facility owner against the facility construction contractor and an original equipment manufacturer relating to installed infrastructure in the facility. Developed an expert opinion and expert report regarding the analysis of the purported defects and a proposed repair solution to correct said defects. 

 Psychiatric Hospital Facility – North Carolina – Evaluated a $28M (million) construction claim by the general contractor against a hospital facility concerning a $100M facility construction project.  Developed an expert opinion and report for general construction issues, constructability, design revisions, and corresponding delay analysis for mechanical, HVAC, electrical, smoke and fire, structural, security and building automation systems. 

Forensics Consulting Work-in-Progress 

• 2022 – International Trade Commission (ITC) Matter – Resin Manufacturing Facility Construction Delay / Completeness Analysis
• 2022 – Mechanical Systems Coatings Matter Analysis
• 2021 – Industrial Manufacturing Facility Standard of Care Matter, Construction Defect, Construction Delay     
• 2021 – Electrical Distribution System Construction Defect Matter, Standard of Care
• 2021 – Hotel Facility HVAC Materials of Construction Related Defect Matter

Carl Berkowitz, PE, Ph.D., AICP, is a Transportation and Traffic Engineering expert with almost 50 years of expertise. He's held various managerial and administrative positions in the transportation industry, government, private, and academic sectors.

Dr. Berkowitz has extensive multi-modal experience in planning, design, engineering, safety, security, construction, maintenance, operations, and management. He has written and edited numerous reports, studies, articles, and columns for major publications, journals, newspapers and scholarly periodicals.

Background Experience:

• Transportation and Traffic Engineering Consultant, 1988 - Present
• New York City Department of Transportation, New York, 1970 – 88
• New York State Office of Planning Coordination, New York, 1967 - 70
• New York State Department of Transportation, Babylon, NY, 1963 - 67
• New York City Transit Authority, New York, 1962 - 63

Litigation Support - Dr. Berkowitz has served as a litigation consultant since 1997.  He has the background and experience to make him ideally suited to contribute important information at every stage in the litigation process. Dr. Berkowitz is able to explain complex issues in layman terms, suggest strategies, investigate and uncover facts, perform literature reviews, research, and prepare safety evaluations. He has been deposed / testified over 50 times in the last 5 years.

Accident Investigation & Reconstruction Slip Trip & Fall Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety Railroad Safety Bus & Truck Safety Biomechanics & Human Factors Student Safety FELA & OSHA Accessibility / ADA Parking Lots & Garages

Construction Safety Elevators & Escalators Equipment & Machinery Traffic Engineering Traffic Lighting / Visibility Transportation Engineering Transportation Safety Transportation Rules & Regulations Terminals Walking & Working Surfaces

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.

Dr. C.J. Abraham, P.E. is a Licensed Professional Safety Engineer with over thirty five years of international experience consulting to insurance companies, municipalities, government agencies, and the legal profession. He provides consultation to International corporations in the areas of New Product Development, Manufacturing, Packaging, Warnings and Instructions. 

Dr Abraham's services include Expert Witness Testimony for both Plaintiff and Defense in matters involving Personal Injury and Product Liability. 

Areas of Expertise:

Construction Accidents OSHA ADA Labor Law Human Factors Household / Industrial Products Safety Engineering

Retail Store Safety Industrial Hygiene Textiles Fires / Explosions / Flammable Fabrics Slips / Falls Recreational / Sports Accidents Toxic Exposures