by Charlyne Elep
Kleinfeldt Consultants Ltd. investigates a broad range of post-accident and post-failure situations to assist clients with the resolution of claims that may result in legal or adversarial positions. This includes building code compliance reviews, fire investigations, slip-and-fall assessments, trip-and-fall assessments, accident assessments, and assessments of structural and building system failures.
Our clients include insurance companies, plaintiff lawyers, and defence lawyers. Our scope of services ranges from the initial site assessment to the presentation of opinions and conclusions regarding the cause of failure as court evidence. This typically involves a site examination, field testing, technical research, and analysis of information, ultimately arriving at an independent opinion on the cause of failure.
A forensic engineering assessment is the application of engineering knowledge and principles to a failure or injury, typically to determine the cause(s) of the failure or injury. The failure may be the result of faulty design, construction or maintenance, a product failure, or process-related. A forensic engineering assessment can also be used to design a solution to prevent such failures from recurring.
A forensic engineering assessment is carried out after a failure or injury has occurred, with the knowledge that it may be used to assist in the resolution of a legal issue, dispute or claim, and therefore may be placed under scrutiny by an adversarial party. The goal of a forensic engineering assessment is to develop the best understanding of the available information, so that the cause of failure and the relevance of possible contributing factors can be considered.
As part of this process, the scientific method is utilized to ensure credibility in the assessment as well as the resulting conclusions. The scientific method is a recognized procedure applied to the collection, analysis and assessment of information. Application of this process develops understanding of the relevance and significance of any information, and the contributing factors to the occurrence. The process requires an understanding of the scientific method to collect, analyze, and assess the significance of the information with respect to a client's position in the scenario.
A good example and reference for the scientific method and its use to support an engineering assessment can be found in NFPA 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations. NFPA 921 defines the scientific method as the Asystematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of a hypothesis. This guide is a standard that was developed by the Technical Committee on Fire Investigations to Aassist in improving the fire investigation process and the quality of information on fires resulting from the investigative process. Figure 1 illustrates the Scientific Procedure.
Prior to the widespread adoption and implementation of NFPA 921, a fire investigation was often an informal process that relied upon the experience of a senior investigator. A seasoned fire investigator would typically arrive on site and determine the cause of the fire. While this type of investigation was based on the accumulated body of knowledge presented by the investigator, it was done in an undefined, undocumented, and unsystematic manner. This method worked as long as everyone agreed with the conclusion. However, the results of an investigation carried out under this approach could not withstand scrutiny, and the need for a defined method was identified. In time, a recognized procedure based on the scientific method was developed and is followed today.
Our assessments follow the scientific method as a recognized procedure to structure the analysis of all forensic matters. This structured approach assists in defining the scope, focusing the research, defending the work, and supporting our conclusions.
We utilize the scientific method in all our forensic assessments, which are quite varied. Typical assessments we have done in the past include:
- assessment of how a glass jar broke in a grocery store - the jar broke while in a customer's hand, resulting in nerve damage
- investigated the origin and cause of a fire, which began shortly after repairs involving soldering were completed
- assessment of a malfunctioning automated gate, which resulted in bodily injury as well as vehicular damage
- examination of an automated overhead garage door, the safety mechanism of which failed to detect the presence of a child in the door=s path, resulting in significant injury
- assessment of a typical multi-use ladder, which failed while in use
- examination of an interior residential stair, the (non-code compliant) configuration of which contributed to the fall and subsequent injury of the resident
- assessment of conditions surrounding a slip-and-fall occurrence at a commercial parking lot, where snow and ice removal may not have been provided in accordance with contractual obligations or municipal by-laws
- examination of conditions surrounding a mis-step at an interior ramp, resulting in injury
- evaluation of the mechanics of a deck collapse. The portion of the house to which the deck was attached had partially deteriorated, and the deck fell down
This formalized approach enables us to develop and systematically test our understanding of the failure to ensure that it complies with sound engineering and scientific principles. It also assists in understanding the chain of events that led to conclusions, as well as the significance of each of the contributing factors.
Approaching assessments in this manner assists in the development of a clear and supportable understanding of the occurrence. Application of the process requires experience, but is not completely reliant upon it. In fact, it reduces the reliance on opinion evidence in court, by providing documented support for the interpretations used in the assessment. The interpretations are based on recognized knowledge, testing, codes, standards and industry best practice knowledge. Following this procedure also makes it easier to identify what information or interpretations would have to change in order to alter the outcome, to estimate how an opposing party might scrutinze our assessment and conclusions.
Once complete, the failure mechanism arrived upon is fully examined with the client, before our report is prepared. This is done in order to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the conclusions drawn from the assessment, and to ensure that the direction of our investigation is consistent with the approach the client wishes to take.
In conclusion, we have found the scientific method to be an invaluable tool in our investigative procedure. As such, we approach every forensic engineering assessment with the scientific method in mind. This procedure helps us to focus our approach in determining failure causes, streamlining our assessment process. The end result is a forensic engineering assessment that is fully supported with tangible evidence and observations.
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