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When an incident results in a bodily injury, the parties that own and maintain the premises where it occurred may be held responsible to the injured party for damages. At LISKE, our Injury Biomechanics experts apply their understanding of anatomy, human kinetics, and physics to any premise liability claim including slips, trips, falls and missteps, and workplace accidents to determine injury causation. One specific type of incident our experts investigate regularly is claims involving falling ceiling tiles.

When investigating such an incident, to determine whether the falling ceiling tile could have caused the claimant’s injuries, the following should be considered by the reconstructionist. Note, this is not an exhaustive list.

First, the geometric constraints of the subject ceiling tile need to be measured and documented including the mass, length, width, and height. This ideally can be obtained by direct measurement, or by looking up the manufacturer specifications of the tile. The height of the ceiling from which the tile fell will also be required. In terms of the claimant, the reconstructionist must know their anthropometrics, as well as what body configuration they were in when the tile allegedly fell on them (i.e., sitting, standing, walking, etc.). The above are a minimum to complete the requisite calculations and analyses.

Second, any/all documentation regarding the injuries claimed by the plaintiff should be requested and reviewed, as well as their medical history prior to the subject incident. An important question always pertains to whether the claimant had pre-existing injuries, or if the subject incident is being implicated as having caused the injuries in a claimant with an unremarkable medical history. The reconstructionist will also want to review whether the claimant has a history of accidents, as well as consider their occupational and recreational history.

Again, the above is not meant to be an exhaustive list for these types of cases, simply some of the information that should be reviewed and considered in these matters.

If you have any questions about your premise liability matter or would like to talk to one of our Team Experts, contact us today.

Why LISKE?

LISKE is an established leader in the field of accident and injury reconstruction with over thirty years of customer trust. We are dedicated to providing a principled and unparalleled customer experience and continue to strive for excellence, acting with integrity, thoroughness, and accountability. The high-level approach we take to each assignment ensures that no element of causation is overlooked, and no stone is left unturned. Our multi-disciplined team of scientists, engineers, and ACTAR accredited reconstruction experts prepare a comprehensive, objective, science-based analysis of each accident, powered by next-generation technology. A LISKE accident and injury reconstruction provides a foundational pillar you can count on, whether as a building block to causation, or in the rebuttal to an unacceptable, misinformed, and overreached opposition conclusion. Plan your litigation strategy and achieve the best resolution for your client with LISKE Accident and Injury Experts.