In commercial and residential applications, injuries derived from mechanical attachment failures have not been attributed to inappropriate use of products, improper installation procedures, or the failure of a product is disconnected from its point of attachment, serious personal injury can result.
As the retained construction expert witness participating in numerous personal injury claims from in loose or falling components in commercial buildings, hotels, hospitals, airports and housing projects, I have been involved in assessing, analyzing, and determining the reasons for the attachment failures of many types of products.
I have observed, during onsite inspections and investigations, a variety of reasons why products became disconnected from their intended location. Reasons why products became detached and dangerous leading to severe personal injuries include but are not limited to:
· Missing fasteners
· Missing fastener parts
· Inappropriate fasteners for the prior product being attached
· Missed connections of the fastening hardware (failure of the fastener to anchor into backing or wall studs)
· Poorly designed systems that have failed due to lack of structural integrity
· Over tightened, stripped and aborted fasteners
· Damaged and fatigued hardware
· Destroyed fasteners or substrate from repeated attempts to secure the fastener
· Poorly manufactured component of the fastener
· Substituted import fasteners in place of specified domestic products
The attachment failures that I have been observed are usually the result of one or more occurring problems:
One example of a multiple location installed product would be guest room such as in a hotel room, is not a common room hallways. This is a cleft system is often found loose or detached due to improper anchoring of the original installation hardware. Ornamental art pieces or wall sconces installed along a common corridor became dislodged due to abuse by patrons and Serious personal injury claims can result from improper preparation of the receptor areas (point of attachment) where stripped, over torqued , or sheared screws extremely lead to poor or insufficient attachment of the applied hardware pr oducts.
Maintain personnel that are untrained or lack the Main circumstances of the prevalent cause of mechanical injury. In many cases, the corrective maintenance actions actually created a much more dangerous situation, where a once minor problem became a significant factor contributing to a serious personal injury.
There are probably as many different types of mechanical fasteners as there are products that need fast proprietary connection that require specialized What is most basic to mechanical fasteners is that they must be used appropriately and as designed by the manufacturer of the fastener.
And the environment, the substrate of the object, connected with the object, absolutely be connected, the environment for expansion and contraction or movement of the substrate, and what environment It is important that you have a fastener. It is important that you have the fastener. Points of connection with acidic substrates or where temperature, moisture or chemical changes are frequent making the proper fastener more more.
Installation methods and techniques must be tailored and designed to exceed the possible abuses that can occur to protect the safety of the patrons of an establishment.
A small ten pound picture and frame properly attached to a wall does not appear to be a major safety hazard. hanging this example decoration, my crews have released a continuous cleated system that works with the picture, but also the picture, but also assures that the picture and frame can not be removed from the wall.
If that ten pound picture fell off of the wall, or was hanging over a bed in a guest while that guest was was sleeping, that small picture and frame could create a serious injury. frame was only attached to the wall using a common in a residential application, the hotel would be negligent in the method of attachment by not protecting its patrons from a possible foreseeable injury.
While using the hanger wire and hook is a reasonable and acceptable in negligent and inappropriate in a commercial application. The possibility that an injury could result from the inadvertent movement and detachment of the frame from the wall when the picture was accidentally brushed in normal usage must be foreseen. is planned potential abuse of this example picture and frame when installing with this locking cleat system answers several requirements that any hotel or commercial location should be concerned with.
1. The hotel should be concerned first with the safety of its patrons.
2. The condition and appearance of the hotel room is important to the management of the hotel.
3. The picture is secure from theft by guests.
Making certain that the artwork remains level and straight, the design of the room is retained precisely as planned by the designers for the patrons to enjoy safely .
Faseners, Families, Families of Families, Families of Families, Families of Families . On different personal injury cases, different causes have determined to have led to fastener failures.
It has been found that incorrect use of fasteners has been the result of:
1. Attempting to lower the product installation costs.
2. Architects or engineers have specified products for attachment.
3. Architects omit fastening instructions, so installers choose inappropriate fasteners for the product.
4. Installation techniques were wrong for the installed products.
5. Time constraints limited the quality of work, and due to a rushed schedule, hardware and fasteners were omitted by the installation contractors.
Representing both Plaintiff and Defense in personal injury claims, a variety of entities have been blamed for injuries derived from improper attachment of installed products. There are multiple tiers of responsibility that begin with poor choices made by an architect, designer Finally, maintenance workers, maids or janitors lacking the qualifications to to evaluate hurrying workmen to complete the installation requirements, project managers and team evaluators hurrying workmen to complete the installation. in many cases, hidden defect installation practice and / or correct verification of proper attachments after the products were installed led to personal injuries making the management or owner of the property the primary responsible party.
While servious injuries may have been addressed to that patron, the actions of the patron sometimes eliminated the obligations of the property owner or management.
He is also a commercial cabinet & millwork contractor experienced in manufacturing and installing architectural products. He has been the retained expert on many cases that have replied from improper use of fasteners.
Some of the types of cases Where there is retained to inspect, analyze, and evaluate attachment claims and responsibilities by both patentiff and defense are as follows:
· Head board detachments in hotel rooms.
· Mirrored surfaces, applied vertically and horizontally.
· Overhead architectural panel systems in private residences.
· Architectural millwork in commercial buildings.
· T-grid ceiling systems in commercial buildings.
· Art work and framed mirrors in hotel rooms and common areas.
· Head trauma cases where casework has fallen on patrons.
· Door and hardware component detachment and failures.
· Book cases and shelving installation defects in housing tract developments.
· Garage storage shelving units in housing tract and condominium developments.
· Garage door component attachments and failures in residential and commercial properties.
· Kitchen and bathroom cabinet detachment and component failures.
· Guard railings and fencing attachment points.
· Cosmetic concealment in them attractions such as component attachments for restaurants, amusement and entertainment venues.
· Improper installation of permanently attached products in municipal buildings and parks.
· Improper attachment of furnishings and cabinets in residences, hotels and commercial malls, casinos and cruise ships.
