Incident Site Management: The Importance of Managing and Documenting an Incident Scene

When accidents happen, on a small scale such as a low-speed collision or on a larger scale such as an explosion, the amount of liability left in the wake of a mishap can be astronomical. A crucial aspect of forensic engineering is being able to properly manage and document an incident site.

Documentation is a critical component to scene incident management. Using photographs, 3D laser scanning, which preserves site geometry and object location, measurements and both overhead and ground video are critical first steps. An initial structure damage assessment is a three step process: Identification of building location, rapid assessment of affected area and identification of buildings that require further assessment. The epicenter, or the center of the explosion or event, is the focus of incident investigation and the center of damage liability determination. However, there are many other areas that require attention including collateral damage assessment and structural triage.

Following a catastrophic or disastrous event, often the focus is on the origin of the event and investigating the cause and, if it is not a force of nature, assigning liability. In many cases, this is just the tip of the iceberg with respect to the liability and damages incurred by the responsible parties. The collateral damage associated with an explosion can far exceed the losses at the origin of the event. The timing of determining liability is often measured in months and years; long after the secondary damages have been torn down, repaired or painted over and the opportunity for documenting the actual damages has long passed.

Collateral Damage Assessment

To best prepare for the need of defending against inflated claims and incurring repair costs of unassociated damage claims, a comprehensive damage assessment should follow the event as immediately as possible to determine what damage is truly resulting from the event and to develop a reasonable scope or repair.

It is essential to deploy a team of professionals capable of assessing the damage to buildings and determining whether the damage is associated with the recent event. This damage assessment team can be deployed concurrently with an incident origin and cause investigation team.

Professional expertise might include:

• Structural engineering to determine structural damage and offer repairs to either temporarily support or for permanent repair of the structure.
• Architecture to diagnose building failures and damage due to materials, codes or contract issues resulting from design, construction defects or maintenance deficiencies, operations, weather or other factors.
• Mechanical engineering to determine the extent of damage incurred by the HVAC and mechanical systems, including rooftop units, cooling towers, duct work and fire dampers.
• Geotechnical and construction materials engineering to assess the damage to foundations, interpret soils behavior, and determine material related damages.
• Fire protection engineering and experience investigating explosions to assist in determining the expected level of damages associated with the forces developed as a result of a particular incident.

Structural Triage

A large loss event can be caused by natural means (tornado, hurricane, earthquake, landslide or sinkhole) or by human activities (fire, explosion). In any case, the assessment and documentation of structural damage and building related damage to the affected region are often best accomplished immediately following the event to provide the best determination of associated versus unrelated damage claims.

A structural triage, in which a rapid assessment is performed to determine the best use of resources and timing of damage assessments, is imperative.

A small, quick response team is assembled and deployed to quickly categorize and summarize the damage observed and to develop a list of buildings, initial damage, access equipment needed, and investigative personnel required. This information will streamline resources and provide an efficient means of documenting the buildings affected and unaffected by a large loss catastrophe.

Structural Shoring Following Collapse

Fire and explosion investigations are invariably associated with structural damage and collapse. Consequently, the origin and cause investigation is often focused in an area with potential structural instabilities.

Partial or full demolition of the building can have negative impacts on the preservation of evidence and schedule for investigation.

It is very important to assemble a team of structural engineers trained and equipped to provide structural shoring designs tailored for assisting with investigations. The structural shoring team should be knowledgeable in investigation techniques, including the Scientific Method, and have extensive forensic engineering background. The team can be deployed to provide an early response assessment of structural stability, shoring design to prevent further collapse, and work with contractors on large evidence extraction all while maintaining a scene-preservation minded focus.