FE Evaluation of Pedestrian and Worker Fall Incidents — the Evolution of Analysis Techniques and Safety Requirements

Fall injury and fatality claims and legal cases involving ordinary pedestrians as well as employees/contractors at work sites have increased dramatically over the course of the author’s 43-year engineering career. As a result, forensic engineers are frequently being contacted by insurers and attorneys to analyze these incidents. The need is to determine probable cause(s) and ascertain as to whether location features were designed, constructed, installed, manufactured, and/or maintained in accordance with the standard of care, including requirements specified in applicable codes and standards. The proper contemporary analysis techniques for these incidents are addressed in this paper as well as what constitutes proper basis for establishing a standard of care for involved installations and/or equipment. It will also expand on and update information provided in approximately two dozen past NAFE papers on various aspects of fall incident analysis, most of which are more than 10 to 30 years old.