It struck me one morning while walking my dogs that forensic engineering investigation is not prevented by COVID-19.\u00a0 Experts often work alone as principal investigators conferring with other specialists as needed.\u00a0 Many of the most experienced experts are sole practitioners.\u00a0 We already “work from home” in a sense and have for years.<\/p>\n
Expert sole practitioner “working from home”, alone<\/span><\/p>\n We take briefings “from home”, get documents by courier and study, visually inspect a site and “kick the tires”, research the literature, photograph and video a failure or accident site from a drone, measure the site, etc. (Ref. 1)\u00a0 All done by the expert, alone.<\/p>\n This amount of forensic investigation is often enough for an expert to determine cause – not always, but often.\u00a0 Even to go through several iterations of cause (hypothesis modification<\/em>\u00a0in the scientific method) like I did recently for a mini-flood. (Ref. 2)\u00a0 An expert does go on site at the first opportunity though.\u00a0 It’s a no no, not to.<\/p>\n Expert sole practitioner “working on site”, with other specialists<\/span><\/p>\n For sure, if it’s a catastrophic failure or accident when other specialists must be called in then a forensic investigation might need to wait – at least to finalize after the expert’s initial tasks noted above are done.\u00a0 Possibly a wait of only a few short months, however, in light of the opening-up-lock-down talk of late.<\/p>\n Examples<\/span><\/p>\n As regards waiting, I’m thinking about the staging of a motor vehicle accident in a road safety assessment case I did recently.\u00a0 Too many people involved to finalize that in a hurry if it had occurred during COVID-19.<\/p>\n Also the John Morris Rankin accident re-enactment I did a few years ago.\u00a0 Also the nail-gun accident re-enactment I did not long ago.\u00a0\u00a0And a bridge collapse the cause of which hung on a topographic survey of the site and the height of the flood waters at the time of the collapse.\u00a0 And a building foundation failure and remediation.<\/p>\n There were just too many people involved up close and personal during forensic investigations like these.<\/p>\n But, back to the expert sole practitioner “working from home”, alone<\/span><\/p>\n The cause of large cracks in the exterior wall of a recently constructed multi-story building?\u00a0 This could be stated with great certainty by an expert based on a telephone briefing on wall construction and crack size and configuration.\u00a0 COVID-19 be damned; the expert would work from home and determine cause.\u00a0 I did not get retained on this one because of a hiccup in the process but it would have been a motherhood type of assessment from my “work from home” office.<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n It struck me one morning while walking my dogs that forensic engineering investigation is not prevented by COVID-19.\u00a0 Experts often work alone as principal investigators conferring with other specialists as needed.\u00a0 Many of the most experienced experts are sole practitioners.\u00a0 … Continue reading \n