Arc Flash Investigations

Arc flash and electrical incident investigations may be performed in cases of litigation or following arc flash or electric shock accidents. An expert witness can provide insight into technical aspects of cases and can be retained by either side to assist in litigation. Technical understanding may be communicated regarding standards and compliance, common practice, or in rare cases, product failures which are typically due to improper hazard assessments or care and maintenance.


Even if litigation is not involved, using an electrical safety or PPE consultant with extensive experience can provide insight into the real causes and lead toward effective and efficient solutions to prevent future incidents or lessen injury.

For insight into quality incident investigations and their benefits, see some of our papers on arc flash and electrical incident investigations. Click Here for references and links.

Our Expert Witnesses:

Hugh Hoagland

ArcWear Founder and Sr. Consultant

Hugh Hoagland, ArcWear’s senior consultant, is one of the most active trainers and researchers in electric arc protection. Hugh has served as a technical expert witness for over 200 arc flash and electrical shock accident investigations and his NFPA 70E and OSHA 1910.269/NESC Training Programs with e-Hazard (Founding Partner) are used by many Fortune 500 companies and governmental agencies including Alcoa, GM, Toyota, Bechtel, DOE, and hundreds of electric utilities. Hugh has performed and developed testing (by original research and participation in ASTM, NFPA, ANSI, CSA, IEC and ISO standards groups) for the electric arc since 1994 and has performed over 150,000 electric arc tests.

Brian Shiels, B.S., M.S.

Sr. Consultant

Brian Shiels has extensive experience with flame resistant textiles in arc flash, flash fire and fire fighting applications. Brian  is a chemist with a Master’s in Textile Engineering from North Carolina State University where he was also an adjunct professor. His extensive list of experience includes research and development, and service on numerous technical committees (ASTM, AATCC, NFPA, and ISO). Brian also has experience serving as an expert witness in court cases.

Claude Maurice

Sr. Consultant

Claude Maurice has extensive experience with flame resistant textiles in arc flash and has been a leader in all arc flash standards in ASTM and IEC.  Claude’s extensive experience at Kinectrics High Current Lab includes participation in hundreds of incident investigations including equipment and PPE.  Claude has worked in the High Current Lab at Kinectrics for over 45 years. His extensive list of experience includes research and development, and service on numerous technical committees (ASTM, IEEE and IEC). Claude performed much of the testing behind ASTM F1959, IEC 61482-1-1, ASTM F1958 [withdrawn], ASTM F2178, ASTM F2676, ASTM f2675, ASTM F2621 and IEC 63232-1-1.  Claude is the chair of ASTM F1959 Task Group.

Stacy Klausing, B.S., M.S.

Sr. Consultant

Stacy has extensive experience with flame resistant textiles in arc flash and has been involved in arc flash, flash fire, fire fighter’s and arc flash standards since earning her M. S. with a thesis entitled Post-Use Analysis of Firefighter Turnout Gear: Phases II

Stacy’s extensive experience with arc testing through Kinectrics High Current Lab and textile testing at the University of Kentucky and as the founder of ArcWear’s Flame and Thermal Test Lab includes participation in many incident investigations including PPE performance to laundering and the effect of moisture in arc flash exposures.  Stacy has worked in the industry for over 15 years. Her work on standards committees include review, leading task groups and writing of proposals in many ASTM, NFPA, ANSI/ISEA and IEC standards). 

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