FIREWORKS EXPERT WITNESS

As Your Fireworks Expert Witness, Bob Morhard can Simplify Complex Technical Matters Litigated by Attorney's and Provide Fireworks Expert Witness Testimony Understandable by Jury's

ExploConsult provides Fireworks Expert support to attorneys and judges with insight on legal case involving incidents or accidents related to fireworks constituents such as explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnics material. With most of my cases, this involves the process of reconstructing a single, unique past event that is no longer observable, and performing a deep-dive analysis to derive the facts.

Attorneys are extremely busy, often managing many cases simultaneously and require reliable insight into legal strategies and causation. Bob Morhard communicates clearly and quickly with attorneys to define Duty of Care and Standard of Care in cases involving the explosives materials within fireworks, and to evaluate circumstances and the law.

As your fireworks expert, Bob Morhard uses forensic tools and procedures and clearly communicates with attorneys on incidents or accidents related to energetic materials such as explosive, propellant, pyrotechnic materials, devices, fireworks, ammunition, or ordnance. Bob Morhard provides reliable, cogent, and concise information that is understandable by the Courts. Bob Morhard has testified before the US Congress, in US Court, many US State Courts, and many foreign countries.

Bob Morhard’s explosives expert opinions have never been excluded, limited, or subject to any Daubert or Frye challenge in any court, state or federal, or in any foreign court in which I have testified and been accepted as an expert in the fields of explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics, and energetic materials in multiple jurisdictions, including state and federal courts across the United States. Bob Morhard’s testimony has consistently been admitted as meeting the standards of reliability and relevance under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993), and Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923), as applicable.

Fireworks Can Cause Serious Injuries

Many fireworks contain extremely sensitive explosives materials, and as such are ultra-hazardous and abnormally dangerous materials to handle without properly managing explosives safety. Sensitivity is a characteristic of an explosive material, classifying its ability to detonate upon receiving an external impulse such as impact shock, flame, or other influence such as auto-ignition that can cause explosive decomposition. Accidental auto-ignition can cause explosive decomposition and result in serious injuries such as:

• Body disintegration, fragmentation, and mutilation.
• Penetrating and perforating shrapnel injuries
• Internal blast injuries (rupture of tympanic membranes, pulmonary hemorrhage ‘barotrauma’, intra-alveolar hemorrhage, and seromuscular intestinal injury)
• Burns from radial heat (usually second-degree burns)
• Dirt and dust tattooing
• Peppering or “body stippling”

Forensic Tools and Procedures

ExploConsult explosives expert professional services include these forensic tools to assess and opine on incidents or accidents related to fireworks constituents such as explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnics material:

• ​Analysing the evidence and the scene.
• Accident reconstruction
• Hazardous materials constituents in the substance or article
• Laws, statues, regulations, permits, guidance assessment
• Design, ignition, initiation, and related technology assessment.
• Explosive’s materials physical and chemical analysis
• Hazardous materials audit UN Manual of Tests and Criteria
• Logistics audit US DOT and foreign codes, truck, rail, and ship
• Explosive’s article and inert exemplar testing
• Compliance audit with Canadian Explosives Regulations law
• Compliance audit with US, State, and municipal law
• Compliance audit with National Fire Protection Association Standards
• Compliance audit with American Pyrotechnic Association
• Compliance audit with Canadian National Fireworks Association
• Process safety management, quantitative risk assessment.
• Hazardous material constituent factors, design factors, formulation assessment
• Blood spatter assessment
• Injury pathology assessment
• Structural and materials assessment
• Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• Infrared spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy
• Assessing the explosives materials involved and the donor/receptor relationships.
• Deflagration to detonation transition assessment
• Fragmentation zone and crater analysis
• Fragmentation signature analysis
• Fibre and textile signature analysis
• Defining the chemical interactions of the explosive’s materials
• Defining the physical chemistry handling of the explosive’s materials
• Preparing maps and diagrams
• Detailing the process or handling procedures on balance with the actual events.
• Assessing the environmental conditions
• Assessing the human factors of all persons involved

Specific Experience as a Fireworks Expert Witness

• 51 years of experience with explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics, fireworks, and ordnance focused on safety, formulation, testing, regulatory compliance, forensic accident investigation, manufacturing, processing, handling, ordnance demilitarization, recycling, storage, application, logistics, and disposal.
• Experience in over 755 projects involving explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics, explosives re-cycling, fireworks, detonator, automotive airbag, and ordnance demilitarization projects providing plant layout, design engineering, technology, permitting, construction, commissioning, operator training, process hazards analysis, safety audits, start-up assistance, or technical support.
• Hands-on technical experience in 112 countries worldwide within more than 745 explosives, propellant, pyrotechnic, fireworks, and military ordnance research and development laboratories, and manufacturing plant projects.
• Participated on teams investigating scenes, forensic evidence, and reconstructing related to ninety plus (90+) explosives, propellant, pyrotechnic, fireworks, ordnance formulation, testing, manufacturing, handling and use accidents and incidents.
• Inspected more than twenty-five (25+) fireworks laboratories, manufacturing, and use facilities and sites in the USA, China, Taiwan, Portugal, and India.
• As a Fireworks Expert, Bob Morhard was called in to provide safety and operational inspections for the Walt Disney fireworks assembly and use facilities in Florida which provide fireworks for all Walt Disney fireworks display sites globally and by Walt Disney cruise line ships.
• Designated as a ‘Special Expert’ status by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) serving on the Technical Committee for Explosives Materials Code (NFPA 495) and Safe Havens for Vehicles Containing Explosives (NFPA 498) from 2000 to present date.
• On teams that formulated designed, constructed, and commissioned eight (8) pyrotechnic manufacturing and loading lines.
• Manufactured more than 100 metric tons of Black Powder, Potassium Perchlorate and Charcoal/Carbon, and most all pyrotechnic materials found in fireworks.
• Conducted safety and compliance inspections of 500+ explosives, propellant, pyrotechnic, fireworks, ordnance formulation, testing, manufacturing, handling and use facilities and sites.

As a Fireworks Expert Consultant Bob Morhard Provides Law Firms with Fireworks Expert Accident Reconstruction and Determination of Root Causations

Bob Morhard’s investigation will explore every possible avenue to get to the bottom of the fireworks incident or accident that occurred. He will delve into the following areas to get the material he needs to be your fireworks expert witness to provide expert opinions with a Reasonable Degree of Scientific Certainty:

• Formulation and hazardous chemical interaction
• Analysing the evidence and the accident scene
• Accident reconstruction
• Hazardous materials constituents in the substance or article
• Laws, statues, regulations, permits, guidance assessment
• Design, ignition, initiation, and related technology assessment.
• UN and US DOT Hazardous Materials Approvals
• UN and Canadian Hazardous Materials Approvals
• Compliance audit with National Fire Protection Association Standards
• Compliance audit with American Pyrotechnic Association
• Compliance audit with Canadian National Fireworks Association
• Packaging Design and Approvals
• Facility Design and Approvals
• Processing and Production Equipment
• Operator Safety Protection
• Handling, Storage and Logistics
• Use and Application
• Forensic and Active Accident Investigation
• Insurance Underwriting and Claims Management

ExploConsult will provide your law firm or insurance company with a comprehensive explosive’s expert opinion report with forensic and court case materials including innovative documents and solutions.