Fields of Application  

Jack T. Madeley, P.E., CSP

Principle Consultant
Madeley Safety Engineering Consultants

Crystal Park Plaza
2700 Earl Rudder Frwy S., Suite 2700
College Station, Texas 77845

Phone: (979) 693-2041
Fax: (979) 693-2043
E-Mail: jackm@safetyengineers.com


  ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION  
  
AND FORENSIC ENGINEERING
  


     We have over 20 years of applied engineering practice in the area of safety with the goal of accident reduction and injury/fatality elimination from any and all situations. Basic principles of safety engineering, when diligently applied, have resulted in great success. From the study of accidents over the years and the historical experience from the published literature, we can evaluate your scenario and events surrounding an incident and assist you in determining causation.

     Forensic engineering and litigation support with focus on accident causation analysis is a key area of expertise. We are qualified in state and federal courts to assist the courts in determining issues of liability. Our experience in safety engineering is applied across a wide variety of areas. The basic principles of safety engineering are the same for any and all work, public, and home situations. We can help you assess your particular accident situation with respect to liability of various parties.

           


  OILFIELD ONSHORE / 
  OFFSHORE  


     The offshore oil and gas industry has developed a reputation as being a dangerous place to work, and indeed it can be. The problem is that every routine activity does not have to be. If safety practices and design procedures that are known, accepted and used by other industries were implemented, it would be a much safer place to work.

     For example, workers engaged in lifting materials offshore are exposed to the same risk of back injury as someone performing similar lifting tasks in a factory. The drilling industry in particular has generally ignored the advances in the area of safety as related to activities that cause many injuries such as manual material handling. This would include pulling slips and moving or tailing pipe. The problem of slips and falls likewise continues. Most specific problem areas have well documented solutions. The same solutions and controls used in other industries can minimize the risk. However, the attitude of the oilfield is that this is tough work and it is for "macho" men and so the solutions provided in authoritative references are frequently ignored and often not considered. The injuries and carnage continue. The problem is NOT a lack of knowledge of how to prevent most injuries but a lack of proper design, supervision, and willingness on the part of management to eliminate the hazards and minimize dangerous procedures.

           


  CONSUMER / INDUSTRIAL  
  PRODUCTS SAFETY  


     When products are purchased or used, there is a reasonable expectation that the product will perform and function as advertised in a safe manner. The safety of the product is assumed under most conditions. There exist some industrial products that by their very nature must contain an element of hazard in order to perform their primary function and have utility. However, most products can be designed with most, if not all, major hazards eliminated by design or guarding and the rest must be provided with proper instructions and warnings.

           


  PREMISES SAFETY  


     Premises safety for any facility begins with a commitment on the part of management to provide a safe place for employees or the public. It likewise supposes that management is willing to accept that responsibility and effect proper actions to bring it to pass.

     It is reasonable to expect a relatively safe environment and that premises managers and owners should take appropriate reasonable steps to implement a proper premises safety program that will help prevent accidents.

     We are able to analyze premises accidents for causation and make the appropriate recommendations based on longstanding safety principles as published in authoritative references.

           


  MACHINE GUARDING    


     Basic principles of machine guarding have been widely documented since the early 1900's. Safety engineering began with an emphasis on machine guarding and those principles hold true today.

           


  FIRE / EXPLOSION  
  CAUSE ANALYSIS  


     A study and evaluation of the evidence to identify the fuel source, ignition/heat source, oxygen source, and chemical reaction. We apply our knowledge and experience of causation to protection and prevention.

           


  GENERAL INDUSTRY  


     Principles of industrial accident prevention have been published and well documented for many decades going back to the early 1900's.

     We are experienced in industrial safety programming and accident prevention techniques and have provided accident investigation expertise and analysis for a wide range of industrial applications.

           


  CONSTRUCTION SAFETY  


     We have experience in industrial facility design, fabrication, installation, and verification. We believe that accidents should not only be avoided through proper (safe) facility design but they can and must also be pro-actively and diligently avoided throughout the construction process. It is the responsibility of general contractors to oversee and coordinate the safety of their contractors and subcontractors to assure the safety of all persons on their jobsite.

           


  SAFETY FALL PREVENTION  


     Falls occur under many different circumstances. People fall from heights such as ladders, stairs, or work platforms. Slips, trips and falls to the same level are also a frequent occurrence. Many factors affect the causes of falls and many of them can be reasonably controlled.

     The National Safety Council has published in its yearly Accident Facts publication for many years the fact that falls are the leading cause of deaths and serious injuries in the U.S. when motor vehicle accidents are excluded. Falls cause injury to people at home, at work, or in public places.

     We believe that application of a proper understanding of the basic fundamentals of the causes of falls will lead designers, architects, engineers and facility managers and employers to the necessary place to be able to prevent or minimize the effects of most falls whether it was a slip and fall on a walking surface, a trip over an obscure single step, a fall on stairs or a fall from elevation.

           


  INSTRUCTIONS & WARNINGS  


     Instructions are to inform the user about the proper use and function of the product. Warnings are to describe safe use of the product. For warnings to be proper they must meet certain requirements. Warnings must describe to the user (1) the proper signal word, e.g. "Danger", (2) the nature of the hazard or what can happen, (3) the proper action to take to avoid the hazard, and (4) the consequences if the proper action IS NOT taken.

     Many product warnings have been evaluated and their adequacy assessed by us ranging from industrial machinery to consumer products to chemical labeling.

           


  MARITIME / MARINE  
  SAFETY  


     The maritime environment presents a particular challenge to safety professionals because of time honored traditions of designing and doing things in certain ways which many times are unnecessarily hazardous. Many marine vessel (boat) design features are extremely dangerous, and would be illegal if on land, but there are few codes or regulations requiring proper safe design.

     In our evaluation, we look not only at the codes but also at good, sound engineering principles and practice.

           


  HUMAN FACTORS  
  ENGINEERING  


     The understanding of the characteristics, physical dimensions, capabilities and limitations, psychological aspects and natural tendencies of the human being and how those features interact and interface with products, the work environment, machinery, equipment and general facilities in public and the application of that to design.

           


  FIRE PROTECTION  
  ENGINEERING  


     The application of engineering principles to the study of fires and explosions and the methods available to prevent them or mitigate their effects. We have the ability to hydraulically analyze your firewater or sprinkler system design to assess the water demand needs. Different demand flows can be modeled.

           



© 1997 Madeley Safety Engineering Consultants
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