Litigation Summary

Ms. Eklund's efforts for either her employer or client throughout her career have focused on avoiding litigation through encouraging appropriate professional activities in project planning, implementation and documentation of all health and safety aspects of environmental and industrial operations. The field of industrial hygiene is based on the prevention of occupational illnesses and injuries by active management of causative factors. Because accidents happen as a result of a series of actions, the philosophy in attempting to eliminate accidents is based on disrupting the series of actions so that the end result, an accident, will not occur.		 exp
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In the environmental field, for example, an appropriate health and safety plan for a simple project, as well as complex ones, are necessary components in a successful project. If such a plan is not an integral part of the project flow, then the project plan is flawed and is subject to serious criticism, albeit litigation, when accidents are allowed to happen as a result. A project plan incorporating standard technical field practices must also have an appropriate health and safety plan. If not, the liability of a company conducting such work is tremendous and is at risk for allowing such practices to persist.The role of the person responsible for health and safety in a project is an important one, one companies often overlook, underplay, or eliminate all together.

The following are the litigation support projects for which Ms. Eklund has provided input to date:

1977
Client: OSHA, New Orleans, LA | Status: settled

Functions: Provided input as Facts Witness through deposition and court testimony in case against a shipyard which alleged that OSHA issued improper OSHA citations and fines involving airborne silica concentrations in the workplace.

1994
Client: Chemical Waste Management (ENRAC), Houston, TX | Status: settled in 1995

Functions: Served as Facts Witness and provided litigation support involving allegation of environmental contamination lodged by neighbors following a major remediation at a pesticide-blending facility.