Resources
Concussions: More than a Headache
Helmets for head protection are standard equipment in sports such as baseball, football, auto racing, hockey, and ski jumping; and are routinely used in sports such as cycling, motorcycling, skateboarding, snowboarding, and skiing. It can be a challenge, however, to provide athletes with proper protection from head injuries. Helmet manufacturers, school budgets, and changes in athleticism are obstacles to athlete safety that are not always avoided. Over the past several years the media has highlighted the growing number of athletes at all levels who have had concussions from their participation in a sport. Football has received special attention from the media about head injuries, concussions, and force of impact regulations.
Join us for FREE Webinar on Helmets & Concussions on Thursday, Feb. 24th at 2:00 pm EST, or read below for more details.
Reports indicate that the number of concussions continues to increase each year. Over 3.8 million sports- and recreation-related concussions, and over 300,000 loss-of-consciousness concussions, occur each year in the US.
Sports equipment design has improved by way of advances in science and product innovations over the past 20 years. Innovation has led to a proliferation of helmet designs, which has resulted in a flood of standards and guidelines. The industry is cluttered with regulations for design and testing to the point of becoming confusing and of questionable value to the end user.
Despite the availability of helmet options, many schools and community sports programs continue to use older helmets that have been refurbished under little oversight and minimal standards. School budgets are under tremendous pressure, and make it a priority to find the lowest-cost method of acquiring sports equipment. Many times, this explains the continued use of refurbished helmets.
In addition to the challenges in equipment availability, today’s athletes are bigger, stronger and faster than ever. Football players today face collisions of significantly greater force than in the past.
Cell Service and Distracted Driving
Here's an interesting development in distracted driving. According to the New York Times, certain cell carriers are exploring options to temporarily shut of cell service for phones in moving vehicles. While there are obvious difficulties with the technology to date, like being able to distinguish between a passenger or driver in a moving behicle, this new development seems to be a new step by cell service providers to participate in the movement against distracted driving.
See the full article here:
"Short Circuit to Distracted Driving: Cell Carriers Explore Ways to Limit Distracted Driving"
"Hands on the Wheel, Eyes on the Road": Free Webinar Preview
When crashes occur, how can a Human Factors expert assist with identifying what errors have occurred and who is responsible for the decisions that resulted in those errors?
Join us for a free webinar on Thursday, January 27th at 1:00 PM CST.
Driver distraction has been a significant contributor to changes in the Driver-Vehicle-Environment relationship. While there has been a 9% decrease in vehicle crashes over the past ten years, there has been a 20% increase in crashes that involve driver distraction on US Highways. Some distractions, like smoking, eating, and passenger interaction have been consistent over a period of time. Other distractions are a product of newer innovations and additions to vehicles and driving culture. Society and government are more aware of the causes and dangers of driver distraction, but a fool-proof method of preventing distracted driving has yet to be implemented.
Today's vehicles have become more complex with the introduction of new technology, some of which has improved safety. Certain technologies and users, however, have made it more difficult for drivers to maintain control over their vehicles. Drivers are challenged more than ever with the availability of smart-phones, lightweight laptops, book readers, video displays, GPS, radar detectors, graphic displays, electronic billboards, and commercial signs.
Product Liability
Humatec's unique multi-dimensional approach in supporting product liability litigation brings together expertise from product design, product manufacturing and maintenance, product safety compliance and human factors components.
There are four types of defects that demonstrate liability:
- Design defects: inbuilt defects that make the product flawed prior to its manufacture
- Manufacturing defects: problems that happen as the product is being built or produced
- Defect in warning: the manufacturer has failed to adequately instruct or warn consumers of the potential dangers in the product
- Misuse or intentional misuse by enduser
Fire and Arson: Cause and Origin
Humatec's unique multi-dimensional approach in supporting litigations as it relates to fire, arson and the subsequent investigation and analysis relies upon the physical site investigation as well as the potential of product defect analyzed by highly qualified investigators and engineers.
In common with many forensic disciplines, one of the early tasks of fire investigation is often to determine whether or not a crime has been committed.
The difficulty of determining whether arson has occurred arises because fire often destroys the key evidence of its origin. Many fires are caused by defective equipment, such as shorting of faulty electrical circuits. Car fires can be caused by faulty fuel lines, and spontaneous combustion is possible where organic wastes are stored.
A fire investigator looks at the fire remains, and obtains information to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the fire. Critical in this investigation is the use of technology and technique that permits the Fire Investigator to evaluate the point of origin and the combustion pattern of the fire.
Think Safety
Humatec's unique multi-dimensional approach in supporting safety, work-site and industrial injury litigation brings together expertise from safety compliance and human factors.
In an industrial safety setting, safety is everyone's business. It is a routine task for a safety professional to develop, conduct, administer, and monitor work-site and woker safety plans and programs. Should there be an incident, the safety professional must conduct an accident investigation to determine teh root cuase of thei njury and what needs to be done to prevent recurrence.
Consider the following safety considerations for the work place (and remember that this article is no substitute for a professional or legal consultation):
Driving Behavior: Human Factors of Accidents
Humatec's multi-dimensional approach in supporting vehicular, work-site and industrial injury litigation brings together expertise from safety compliance and human factors components. Human Factors is the study of behavior and decision-making, and can be used to appropriately analyze human actions leading up to and involved in accidents or injuries.
Some everyday tasks and actions involved intricate human behaviors; one such behavior is driving a vehicle. Everyday drivers are bombarded by stimuli and an environment that demands their fullest attention. This can be described as "situational awareness." However, each driver is subject to environmental distractions, some beyond their control and other distractions completely predicated upon their own personal choices.
According to the Department of Transportation, there were 190,625,023 licensed drivers in the United States in 2000. This is an increase of 23.73% since 1980 and a 12.39% increase since 1990. According to the US Census, there were 10.6 million motor vehicle accidents in 2007. Of those accidents, over 43,000 resulted in the death of an individual.
As described by Gibson and Cook (1938), "of all the abilities that contemporary civilization requires of us, driving is the most important for individuals in the sense that errors in this ability translate into the greatest threat to human life."