Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. (“Rimkus”), a worldwide provider of forensic engineering and technical consulting services, announced the strategic acquisition of Applied Safety and Ergonomics (“ASE”). The acquisition aligns with Rimkus’ growth strategy in expanding the company’s reach and services across the United States.

Managing Consultant Jared Frantz will teach the Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE) 438 Safety Management course at the University of Michigan during the 2021 Winter Semester. Course topics include the history of occupational safety, theories of self-protective behavior and accident prevention, and critical analysis of safety interventions and accident data.

Senior consultants Steve Hall and Charles Burhans present at the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering’s 32nd Product Liability Conference.

Senior Consultant Steve Hall and Managing Consultant Judi Isaacson were confirmed as Chair and Vice-Chair respectively during the ANSI Z535 Committee meeting on February 17, 2020, in Orlando, FL, replacing outgoing Chair Geoffrey Peckham and Vice-Chair Paul Frantz. Additional changes in subcommittee leadership are upcoming for Z535.1, Z535.4, Z535.6, and a new subcommittee for warnings in electronic media.

Senior Consultant Steve Hall (Chair) and Managing Consultant Judi Isaacson (Vice-Chair) directed the ANSI Z535 Committee to develop guidance for presenting safety information in electronic media during its meeting on February 17, 2020, in Orlando, FL.

Senior Consultant Steven Hall was featured on an episode of Clarion Safety Systems Product Safety Podcast. He discussed tips for effective hazard communication and risk management trends on the horizon for 2020 and beyond.

At Boston University’s 4th Annual Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Conference, Managing Consultant Jared Frantz presented the poster “Xenith Non-Tackle Headgear Presents Safety Information About Protective Limitations,” co-authored by ASE Senior Consultant Steve Hall and Xenith partners Drs. Grant Goulet and Jessica Zendler. The poster summarized the collaboration of ASE and Xenith, a Detroit-based football helmet manufacturer, in developing safety information for Xenith LOOP, a new non-tackle football headgear. Conference attendees included physicians, researchers, former athletes, athletic trainers, families of those diagnosed with CTE and others.

Senior Consultant Raina Shah presented the poster “Human Factors and Safety Perspectives on the Evolving Rules for Use of Dockless E-Scooters” at the 10th Annual Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics Conference in Washington, D.C. The poster, co-authored with Senior Consultant Brian Grieser, examined evolving approaches to the regulation of dockless e-scooters and related human factors and safety considerations. This work builds upon ASE’s extensive experience examining current and historic safety and health issues in the context of evolving regulatory landscapes. For more information about this research, please contact Raina Shah.

Senior Consultants Steven Hall and Paul Frantz were invited instructors for the inaugural class of Society of Product Safety Professional certificate applicants at the Chaifetz School of Business at St. Louis University. Dr. Frantz and Mr. Hall taught a class entitled “Human Factors in Incident Investigations: Response and Communication” on April 12, 2019. They presented human factors analysis techniques and case studies regarding the role of warnings and human factors in product safety incidents.

Senior Consultant Raina Shah presented the poster “Recent Approaches to Communicating Information about Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)” at the Society for Chemical Hazard Communication (SCHC) semi-annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. Co-authors included Senior Consultant Steven Hall and Project Analyst Karis Faust. For more information about this poster or about our Chemical Hazard Communication practice area, please contact Raina Shah.

Senior Consultant Steven Hall presented a webinar entitled “Beyond Compliance: The Warnings Development Process” on February 12, 2019. This was part of the Society of Product Safety Professionals’ Product Safety Webinar Series. Recordings of this and other webinars in this series are freely available at https://www.productsafetyprofessionals.org/archive.

Senior Consultant Steven Hall and Managing Consultant Jared Frantz presented their work assisting Xenith, a Detroit-based football helmet manufacturer, with updating their product warnings. Attendees at Boston University’s 3rd Annual Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Conference included physicians, researchers, former athletes, medical device manufacturers, families of those diagnosed with CTE and others.

Managing Consultant Alex Rosaen presented on safety and human factors aspects of e-scooter regulation to faculty and graduate students at the University of Michigan College of Engineering. The presentation described findings from an ASE survey of municipal dockless scooter regulations, touching on safety and human factors issues such as the regulation of scooter-related safety information. For additional information regarding this research, please feel free to contact Raina Shah, our Senior Consultant heading up this project.

Senior Consultants Raina Shah, Tim Rhoades, and Brian Grieser served the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society by assisting with its 62nd Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Tim Rhoades was the Program Co-Chair for the Forensic Professionals Group program. Raina Shah and Brian Grieser also served as chairpersons for technical sessions that involved safety and forensic presentations. Eight members of ASE attended the 2018 meeting. For many years, ASE has contributed to the Society by sharing research, serving as peer reviewers, and providing financial support to University of Michigan students attending HFES meetings.

Senior Consultant Brian Grieser investigated hundreds of employee slip, trip, and fall incidents at a large Midwestern hospital. He presented his findings and recommendations at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society annual meeting in Philadelphia.

Brian Grieser and Jared Frantz measured the effect of wet versus dry conditions on the slip resistance of common shoe sole materials on several interior and exterior floor surfaces. Jared Frantz presented the results of their study at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society annual meeting in Philadelphia.

Senior Consultants Charles Burhans and Steven Hall will be returning to the University of Wisconsin’s to be instructors at the Product Liability conference on September 20, 2017. They will be instructing professionals who deal with product safety issues at companies around the country. Mr. Burhans will be describing how to use various reports, data, videos, and comments that may be available for a wide range of products and how these sources of information can influence safety management decisions. Mr. Hall will be providing practical guidance for engineers and technical professionals to consider in grappling with the concept of product misuse as part of product safety management.

Senior Consultant Steve Hall will again be an instructor at the Advanced Product Safety Management Course sponsored by Saint Louis University’s John Cook School of Business. The September, 2017 attendees of the course are experienced professionals involved in product safety activities at companies around the world.

Senior Consultant Raina Shah testified at a jury trial in Corpus Christi, Texas in a case involving warnings and human factors issues associated with occupational exposure to asbestos. Among other things, she testified about historical aspects of occupational warnings and explained how regulatory frameworks for risk communication applied to issues in the case.

Applied Safety and Ergonomics has provided technical assistance in litigation for more than 20 years. Consultants from ASE have been retained as experts in all 50 U.S. States as well as Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Brian Grieser continued his annual involvement in a Safety Management course in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. For many years he has been a fixture at the course teaching the students about premise safety and slip and fall prevention. Mr. Grieser demonstrates the effect of surface contaminants and various measurement techniques, while explaining standards related to assessing floor surfaces and his role in their development.

Dr. Young lectured on the topic of product warnings and human factors at the University of Michigan Law School. His lecture was part of the Professor Kyle Logue’s Tort law class. Professor Logue summed up the lecture as follows: “Steve taught one of the best classes of the semester for my Tort students. Really excellent.”

ASE Consultants have lectured in numerous academic settings such as the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, and Law School, University of Wisconsin, San Jose State University, St. Louis University School of Business, and Harvard University School of Public Health. They have also presented work at national safety agencies such as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).

Senior Consultant Paul Frantz was an instructor at the September, 2015 Advanced Product Safety Management Course sponsored by Saint Louis University’s John Cook School of Business. Attendees were experienced professionals involved in product safety activities at companies around the country. Dr. Frantz spoke on the topic of Human Factors for Product Safety Managers.

ASE Consultants have lectured in numerous academic settings such as the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, and Law School, University of Wisconsin, San Jose State University, St. Louis University School of Business, and Harvard University School of Public Health. They have also presented work at national safety agencies such as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).

The Chicago Law Bulletin has reported on a jury trial in which Dr. Frantz testified as a warnings and human factors expert.

Applied Safety and Ergonomics has provided technical assistance in litigation for more than 20 years. Consultants from ASE have been retained as experts in all 50 U.S. States as well as Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Senior Consultant Charles Burhans will be teaching a course titled Using Warnings and Instructions to Increase Safety and Reduce Liability at the University of Wisconsin – Madison June 23-25, 2015. The course will cover factors useful in evaluating manuals and warnings, methods to test and revise warnings and instructions, ANSI standards, as well as product safety issues in the global marketplace and international standards for warnings.

Senior Consultant Raina Shah was a speaker at the University of Michigan Decision Consortium seminar series this fall, where she presented on public health risk communication to students and faculty. Drawing on her extensive background in human factors and warnings, Ms. Shah addressed timely issues such as the role of manufacturers in communicating information about public health risks, tradeoffs between simple versus complex public health messages, and thresholds for providing information.

With support from ASE, a record 25 Industrial & Operations Engineering (IOE) students from the University of Michigan College of Engineering attended the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES), held October 27-31 in Chicago, Illinois.

Four IOE PhD students presented work, including UM-HFES Student Chapter President and former ASE intern* Rosemarie Figueroa, who said, “This conference gives me the opportunity to learn and explore different areas of ergonomics not only by attending presentations, but also when networking and talking to other members about what they do and their passion for it.”

In addition, the UM-HFES Student Chapter was presented with the Gold Chapter Award, the highest honor that a chapter in the organization can receive.

For tips and insight on getting a student chapter to the Annual Meeting, visit this HFES Student Spotlight, authored by members of the UM-HFES Student Chapter.

Senior Consultant Raina Shah will be presenting at the American Bar Association’s Toxic Torts and Environmental Law continuing education meeting in Phoenix on April 5th, as part of a panel of attorneys and experts on Hot Topics in Food Litigation. She will provide a risk communication and safety management perspective on product-related warnings as a component of public health risk management. For more information, contact Dr. Diebol or register for the meeting.

Brian Grieser Presenting Paper at Ergonomics and Safety Conference

Senior consultant Brian Grieser will present at the International Society for Occupational Ergonomics & Safety’s XXVth Annual Occupational Ergonomics and Safety Conference. Mr. Grieser will present a paper co-authored by Helen Fuller. The study he will present on involved the measurement of the peak vertical acceleration exposure levels at the lumbar spine for ten activities of daily living. Mr. Grieser is ASE’s Director of Technology and Instrumentation. Some of his areas of expertise include human vibration and biomechanics testing and analysis, and walkway slip resistance assessment. For more information on the study, or for other inquiries, please contact Mr. Grieser.

This fall, Steven M. Hall, Director of Hazard Communication Consultations, will be presenting on human error, human performance and product safety at two conferences for product safety professionals. Mr. Hall will discuss models of human performance and error and health and safety behavior and related tools that may useful for product safety professionals.
In September, 2013, he will present at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the 25th Annual Product Liability Conference. For more information about this year’s program, which will be attended by attorneys, product development professionals, and safety and risk management professionals, visit the University of Wisconsin website.

In October 2012, the U.S. Consumer Product Commission (CPSC) held a public ATV Safety Summit, “Working together to keep families safe on ATVs.”

Paul Frantz presented on studies done by ASE in order to determine what could be done to keep youth off adult ATVs based on a variety of factors, focusing on age-appropriate sizes and speeds of ATVs. More detailed slides from his presentation can be found here.

Charles Burhans spoke regarding testing done at ASE to determine effectiveness of ANSI/SVIA ATV warnings with regard to age and supervision requirements. Testing included focus groups on proposed language as well as structured interviews with questions on comprehension and perception of these warnings, as well as behavior related to purchase, operation, and supervision. His slides can be found here.

The CPSC website has more information on the Summit, as well as ATV safety, and all the slides from presentations at the summit can be found here.

Raina Shah, a Senior Consultant, will be speaking about product warnings at the Sports and Fitness Industry Association’s Litigation and Risk Management Summit in April. In addition to technical expertise in human factors engineering, Ms. Shah is a certified yoga teacher, a lifelong runner, and a fitness enthusiast. She is also a member of committees that develop national standards for product warnings. Her recent activities include risk communication in international settings.

Charles Burhans, Senior Consultant, is leading the ANSI Z535 committee’s consideration of safety information in electronic media (video, web, apps, etc.). Mr. Burhans presented technological developments and potential committee activities concerning these media at the recent 2012 meeting. He heads a new Working Group to survey technology for applicability and possible inclusion in a new part of the ANSI Z535 series. For additional information, please contact Charles Burhans.

OSHA recently revised its Hazard Communication Standard to harmonize with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. Click here for our summary of the changes to labeling and MSDS requirements under the revised standard.

Global Approaches to Communicating Information About Nanomaterials in Consumer Products, presented by Raina Shah and Julia Diebol, received first prize at the Society for Chemical Hazard Communication Spring Poster Session in Nashville, TN on April 3, 2012. For additional information or to request a copy, please contact Raina Shah.

New ANSI Standard for Warnings Published ANSI Z535.6, a Standard for Product Safety Information in Product Manuals, Instructions, and Other Collateral Materials, has recently been published.  This standard is the first of its kind and the latest addition to the ANSI Z535 series, which includes standards for safety signs, labels, and symbols. For more information […]