Construction can be a dangerous place where hundreds, if not thousands, of people are on site, working at elevations or performing potentially hazardous work. Even the best managed projects can have safety incidents.
Litigation often develops after an employee gets seriously injured while working on the job. These incidents and/or injuries can be caused by employees not following standard safety procedures or taking inappropriate risks while performing work tasks. On-the-job injuries can result in contentious claims by employees that should be properly evaluated by experts knowledgeable about industry standards and regulations.
It is important to conduct a thorough analysis of both OSHA compliance by the employer as well as the employee’s documented actions and their knowledge of performing assigned tasks in a safe manner. Our safety professionals have decades of boots-on-the-ground experience overseeing safety and supporting construction work.
Expert Services
GlassRatner (formerly Interface Consulting) offers expert, in-depth support to clients involved in occupational safety-related litigation, from reviewing depositions and analyzing processes and procedures to providing courtroom testimony. Risk assessment evaluations and training sessions are also available for clients to use when preparing safety policies and procedures that go beyond mere OSHA compliance so that they may seek occupational safety excellence in preventing accidents in the future.
Our safety professionals possess strong academic science backgrounds and an extensive occupational safety work history in multiple industry sectors. GlassRatner’s experts have assisted a wide range of clients such as petrochemical facilities, refineries, furniture warehouses, and grocery stores, among others, along with the employees of such facilities.
Our construction personnel also have expertise with construction site safety issues, procedures, and practices. We are often called upon to analyze standard of care issues with respect to construction management and safety and assess which party may be responsible for safety incidents.
Analysis Methodologies
Our expert analysis may involve accident investigation methodologies such as “Cause Mapping” and the “5 Why” method. Both of these investigative methods are root cause analysis techniques that explore the cause-and-effect chain behind an incident that caused injury and/or property damage.
These methodologies may yield significant learnings that can serve to prevent employee accident recurrence. Additionally, we offer the development and/or post-accident review of a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) / Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) for clients.
GlassRatner’s consultants can assess occupational health exposure with regards to potential hazards associated with Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) atmospheres using the inverted triangle of “Hierarchy of Controls.” This tool assists with a thorough evaluation of an employee’s actions and their correct use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), as it most appropriately addresses any attempt to mitigate personal exposure to a chemical hazard within a confined space or otherwise potentially hazardous atmosphere.
