Choose a Trusted Manufacturing Equipment Expert Witness

A machine Guarding Expert Witness is someone who understands how machines work, where certain covers are needed and also understands the rules and regulations surrounding machine guarding.

Here at Alpine Engineering and Design, several of our experts are certified safety professionals who understand the standards and regulations that are important when it comes to machine guarding. Possibly just as important, is the fact that our engineers have designed many of the types of machines that require machine guarding.

Request an Expert Consult

What is Machine Guarding?

Machine guarding is the process of properly covering the moving parts of a machine in order to avoid injuries. If you have worked in a workplace with a lot of machinery, you know how important machine guarding is. When machine guarding is not done properly, it is easy for injuries to happen. If an injury happens it is important to have a good machine guarding expert witness. This expert witness would most likely be a mechanical engineer, and would also need to be intimately familiar with safety standards and OSHA regulations for machine guarding.

How Important is Guarding?

Because moving parts of machines pose such a high risk in the workplace, OSHA has specific requirements for machine guarding. Many accidents could be avoided if the OSHA standards for machine guarding were adhered to properly. You can find the OSHA regulations for machine guarding in these sections:

1910.211—Definitions of Machine Guarding

1910.212—General requirements for all machines

1910.213—Woodworking machinery

1910.214—Cooperage machinery [Reserved]

1910.215—Abrasive wheel machinery

1910.216—Mills and calendars in the rubber/ plastics industries

1910.217—Mechanical power presses

1910.218—Forging machines

1910.219—Mechanical power-transmission apparatus

If you are setting up a business that will have equipment with moving parts, these sections will be important for you. Some of the types of movements that you will want to pay attention to are rotation (such as a pulley or gears), reciprocation (parts moving back and forth that could crush), transversing (moving in a straight line).

How to Find an Expert Who Understands Guarding Requirements

Finding a good machine guarding expert witness can be a difficult task. As any attorney knows, the right expert witness can make or break your case. The first thing that we suggest when looking for a machine guarding expert witness is to ask friends and acquaintances who they have used in cases they have worked on. Our experts get more than 90% of their business from referrals.

If you are having a hard time finding a good referral, the next thing that I would do is perform an online search. Find a few different candidates that seem well qualified and vet those candidates out. Find out how well they communicate by talking with them on the phone. Get some references to check with that can provide you with insight into the work that they do.

If you are looking for a good machine guarding expert witness, put Alpine Engineering and Design on your list. Our experts are well qualified. They are mechanical engineers with professional engineer credentials. Several of our experts are even certified safety professionals. This means that they not only understand the mechanical aspect of machine guarding cases, but they are familiar with safety regulations as well. Our experts have been retained in hundreds of cases over the years and have dozens of references who can vouch for the quality of work that we provide. Our experts have excellent communication which I am sure our references will also tell you. Call Alpine Engineering and Design today for any of your expert witness needs at: (801)763-8484. Learn more about our mechanical engineering expert witnesses.

Request an Expert Consultation
Machine Guarding Expert Request