Case Study: An Analysis of a Sidewalk Trip and Fall after Repair Utilizing Photograph Scaling

Abstract

Often, forensic human factors consultants are hired to work on a case after the incident area is altered, repaired, or destroyed. Photographs documenting the original incident area are critical in determining the causes of the injured parties’ fall. The case presented in this paper involves a trip and fall that occurred on the sidewalk of a large apartment complex. A human factors consultant analyzed the incident sidewalk post repair and was able to estimate the original condition of the sidewalk through the use of photograph scaling. In addition to an analysis of the human factors surrounding an incident, photograph scaling can be a useful tool in estimating elevation changes and determining the causes in a post repair trip and fall incident.