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Safety Design - Table of Contents - links to content on this page click on the  underlined  squares  to link to the subjects ?  Our Forensic Engineering Work - number of ? Cases  ? Reports  ? Affidavits  ?Testimonies   ?  Safety Design Discussed ?  Safety Design Principles ?  Safety Design Hierarchy ?  Geographic Area available for Work ?  Contact Us by Phone, Mail or Email     ?  Consult, before and after assignment

?  Experience & Qualifications ?  Our Typical Work Activities & Products ?  Presentation of Results of Work

?  Fee Schedule availability ?  Curriculum Vitae and additional Qualifications ?  Links to Other Pages (left sidebars)

<< click for a description of typical activities and work performed click for discussion of Safety Design and Safety Design Analysis,  including the Safety Design Hierarchy

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 E xperience and Qualifications of James D. Madden, P.E .  in regard to Safety Design

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Combined,  Engineering and Normal Psychology  are the scientific bases of  Human Factors  and the related studies of the human-machine interface, human-facility interface, and responses to hazards, which comprise a significant part of the foundation for  Safety Design  and  Safety Design Analysis.  James D. Madden, P.E. has specific education in Engineering and Normal Psychology, as follows: 

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as part of the Bachelors and Masters degrees in Engineering, and college work after receiving the degrees, he took extensive  coursework in Engineering ?  he minored in  Normal Psychology,  as part of the Bachelors degree work

? during 17 years in industrial operations and engineering design used  Safety Design  as an integral part of engineering  design of all industrial and manufacturing equipment and facilities  including specification of Safeguards and Warnings, which required the  use of Safety Design  and the  Safety Design Hierarchy

?  Also during employment in engineering design: 

? assured the technical quality of engineering designs, especially of the safety design of equipment and facilities, design of safety facilities, safeguards and warnings, through hands-on reviews and formal technical reviews and approvals of engineering designs of industrial and manufacturing facilities, piping, valving, instrumentation, equipment and machinery ? designed specialized safety and air pollution control systems, including flares, vents, foam fire protection systems and similar systems, as well as safety devices including safety and overpressure relief valves, rupture discs, overpressure blowout panels ? designed and presented courses to Design Engineers covering the design of safety relief devices and safety relief systems ? organized, participated in and supervised the writing of Design Manuals for equipment, machinery, piping, valving and instrumentation to meet safety design requirements and applicable codes, standards and recommended practices ? organized, participated in and supervised the writing of a Design Manual for the design of boiler systems to meet safety design requirements and the ASME Boiler Code and other applicable codes and standard. ? as a  forensic engineer  for over 30 years , routinely use the  principles of safety design  in the engineering analysis of  accidents, and equipment and facilities involved in accidents, including analyzing Safeguards and Warnings which are present, and analyzing for the need for Safeguards and/or Warnings ? earned  2 Engineering degrees , Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering, and took additional credit coursework post-degree, taking coursework in physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering mechanics, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and normal psychology ? earned the  Professional Engineers license  (P.E.) by taking the National Council of Engineering Examiners' examination in Fundamentals of Engineering and the  Mechanical Engineering  and  Chemical Engineering  sections of the National Council of Engineering Examiners' (NCEE) examination in Principles and Practices of Engineering ? designated a  Diplomate Forensic Engineer  by the National Academy of Forensic Engineers in accordance with the standards of the Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards (CESB) ? at the start of forensic work, completed  refresher and additional post-degree college credit coursework  and continuing education coursework in mechanical engineering, metallurgy and materials

?  attended  engineering seminars  presented by the National Academy of Forensic Engineers

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regularly attend additional  technical courses and seminars  each year to meet the requirements for continuing engineering education for the Professional Engineer's license ?  over  40 years of engineering experience , with:  ?  17 years experience in  industrial operations, engineering design  and  construction assistance  ?  30 years experience in  forensic engineering , including:   ?  testifying in  over 90 depositions  and  over 75 trials ?  issuing  over 600 reports  and  over 60 affidavits ?  working on  over 1000 cases See more about qualifications of  James D. Madden, P.E. on the  Qualifications Page . See details of the forensic work throughout this website, and a summary on the  Employment Page . See details of the pre-forensic work on the  Employment Page  and the  Engineering Design Page .

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S afety Design & Safety Design Analysis

Safety Design  is based to a significant degree on  Human Factors . Human Factors and Safety Design are the bases for the use of  Safeguards  and  Warnings . Safeguards and Warnings are required by  Safety Design  principles. Human Factors and Safety Design are an important part of the basis for many generally accepted  Codes, Standards and Recommended Practices . These subject areas are all closely related.

 Safety Design principles

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? Safety design in application is based on:

• Human Factors  and the analysis of the human - equipment and human - facility interfaces

• accepted engineering safety standards  and practices

• Codes & Standards  and  Recommended Practices

? Safety design includes:

• designing equipment to reduce or eliminate hazards in the use of the equipment, which is usually called    designing out the safety hazards

• the specification of  safeguards , as required, including guards, light curtains, double operating buttons, safety instrumentation, etc.

• the designing or specification of  warnings  as required

 Safety Design Hierarchy

? Safety design is performed based on the the  Safety Design Hierarchy , which is the accepted system for design of safe equipment, systems, products and facilities. The Safety Design Hierarchy requires designing for safety as follows:

• first,  design out the safety hazards  in equipment, products and facilities

• second,   to protect from those safety hazards which cannot be designed out

• third,  use warnings  for those safety hazards which cannot be designed out and for which safeguards cannot be used to protect from the safety hazard *

• fourth,  use warnings to complement safeguards  when this adds to the safety of the installation where safeguards are used to protect from hazards

? Design using the Safety Design Hierarchy has prohibitions as follows:

• do NOT use warnings in place of safeguards or designing out a hazard, when safeguards or designing out the hazard is feasible

• do NOT use safeguards in place of designing out a hazard, when designing out a hazard is feasible

*If the sole safety feature to protect against a hazard with a piece of equipment, system, product or facility would be a warning, it may not be acceptable to use the equipment, system, product or facility without eliminating the hazard, depending on the circumstances and severity of the hazard, and availability of alternative equipment, systems, etc. for the same use, which must be determined from engineering analysis. Providing a warning for a piece of equipment, system, product or facility does not automatically meet the requirements of the safety design hierarchy when it is not possible to use a safeguard with the equipment, system, product or facility as it is designed.

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O ur Typical Work Activities and Products, when warranted by the case Our work investigating, analyzing and reconstructing accidents, and presenting the results, may include any  or all of the following, depending on the needs of the case:  ? inspection of the accident site , such as a roadway, outdoor facilities, building or industrial facilities ? inspection of the involved equipment , in current condition, including in damaged condition (such as crashed vehicles); and when available for operation, during operation (such as industrial equipment) ? photography  and/or  video  of the accident site and involved equipment ? interviewing witnesses  (often during the inspection of the accident site, product and/or equipment) ? review and study  of case documents, evidence and applicable codes, standards, regulations and recommended practices ? testing  accident items and exemplar items (such as consumer products) ? drawings, calculations, graphical analyses, computer analyses , etc. as required to analyze and reconstruct the accident, and to present the engineering analysis and reconstruction ?  written  reports  and  affidavits , and  exhibits ? coordinating or interfacing with others while they are preparing  specialized exhibits  such as video animations and videos of demonstrations ? testimony in deposition ,  trial  and  arbitration

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P resentation of results of our work We present the results of our investigations, engineering analyses and reconstructions in  the client's choice of any, or all, of the following:  ? verbal reports,  by telephone or in face-to-face conferences ?  written  reports  and  affidavits ? deposition testimony,  including video deposition ? trial testimony  and arbitration testimony

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F orensic Engineering Work by Senior Forensic Engineer James D. Madden, P.E.  James D. Madden, P.E., while performing  Forensic Engineering  work full-time for over  the last  30 years , for both plaintiff and defendant, has to date: ?  completed  over 1000 cases ?  written and issued  over 600 reports           ?  written and issued  over 60 affidavits ?  testified in  over 75 trials                  ?  testified in  over 90 depositions For more on qualifications see the  Qualifications Page .  <<< Click on the underlined text

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C ontact information

For mailing  address ,  phone ,  fax  and  email  address click a button below the Fee Schedule section.

F ee Schedule

Contact us by phone, fax, mail or email for a copy of the Fee Schedule for charges for engineering and consulting services and testimony.  Click a button below for contact information.

G eographic Area of Practice - North America 

Over the last 30 years we have regularly worked on accidents which occurred in  Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York and nearby , including inspections of accident sites, equipment, and facilities, with reports and testimony. During these 30 years we have also worked on accidents which occurred in  other states , and equipment and facilities located in other states, with inspections of accident sites, equipment, and facilities,  from Utah and Kansas to Vermont and North Carolina,  with reports and testimony for these accidents, when applicable.

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