Evaluation of Slip, Trip and Fall Accident claims

Evaluation of Slip, Trip and Fall Accident Claims

Vidal Engineering utilizes state-of-the-art equipment that is recognized by leading forensic practitioners, and the scientific community for evaluation of walking/working surface accidents. Since the vast majority of slip/fall accidents arise because of some unexpected lubricating spill, only slipmeters that are valid for metering on both wet and dry surfaces should be used by the slip/fall safety/forensic engineer.

Keith Vidal's extensive involvement in standards development activities and research has kept him current with advancements in the field of pedestrian safety. No other Forensic or Safety Engineers in the Midwest can offer this level of expertise in the field of Pedestrian Safety.

Pictured at left is the beautiful and multi-talented Becky Vidal, with one of the tribometers used by Vidal Engineering L.C. Tribometer is a fancy word for a device that measures pedestrian slip resistance. This device is useful for measuring slip resistance on surfaces under wet and dry conditions. It also performs in a manner that closely emulates human ambulation.

It is generically known in ASTM Standards as the Variable Incidence Tribometer (VIT). An ASTM Standard Test Method covers its operational procedures (F-1679). Vidal Engineering has used the VIT in numerous cases where it was accepted as a scientifically recognized device by the trial court.

Drag sled meters have been recognized for years as being unreliable and inappropriate for testing wet surfaces because they are susceptible to the phenomenon known as sticktion. Sticktion is the tendency of two surfaces in forceful contact, in the presence of a lubricating interface or contaminant, to bond together if there is a period of time between initial contact and initiation of relative motion.

Some experts claim that their drag sled meter tests prove that a surface is slip resistant because it metered above 0.5 when measured wet. Many times their tests show that the surface is safer when wet (according to their drag sled test results). This is contrary to what most people know, i.e., wet surfaces are generally more slippery that the same surface dry. These misleading results can, and should be, impeached as "junk science".

Sticktion can lead to erroneously high slip resistance readings on wet or contaminated surfaces. The bottom line is that it is NEVER appropriate to use any drag sled type of meter for wet testing.

As one who is an active safety/forensic consultant on a nation-wide scale, I have watched our Courts and OSHA tighten the reins on what is acceptable as expert testimony. It is important for those who would be experts to use currently accepted scientific methods. These are a few of the activities in which I am currently or recently been involved in:

Chairman of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Subcommittee A1264.2, currently writing a standard entitled "Provision of slip resistance on walking/working surfaces".

Keith Vidal, P.E.is an active member of four American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) committees involved either directly or peripherally with pedestrian safety:

Committee F-13"Safety and Traction for Footwear";

Committee C-21"Ceramic white wares and related products";

Committee D-21"Polishes";

Committee F-6"Resilient Floor Coverings".

Keith Vidal, P.E. assisted in the preparation of a report: "Investigation of Means of Enhancing Footwear Traction for Ironworkers Working at Heights", issued to, and funded by, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (USDOL), Washington, D.C. Keith Vidal, P.E. testified as a technical expert on Slip Resistance on behalf of OSHA at the Department of Labor, Washington, D.C., December 1, 1998.