Practical Ethics for the Expert Witness in Ergonomics and Human Factors Forensic Cases
This chapter describes how many texts concerning the intersection of law and applied disciplines address ethical concerns in passing or do not address them at all. Ethical concerns are like skin, skin is our larges organ and the one that interacts with the world around us. However, it is simply overlooked until something goes wrong – and so it with ethics. If ethical concerns are unaddressed, they will surely emerge during forensic consultation and often with potentially disastrous results. The objective of this chapter is to alert the reader to some concerns which, if addressed appropriately, lead to the immense satisfaction of doing a job professionally and also serving society. The chapter will address the ethical questions that face the expert at the beginning of a case, followed by some questions that might arise during the data gathering and consultation state, and the chapter concludes with questions that arise during the concluding stage.
Copyright 2009 by Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Inc. All rights reserved. 10.1518/107118109X12524442635581
Every aspect of human factors consulting in litigation presents opportunities and challenges for acting in an ethical manner. This article discusses three types of misrepresentation that pose ethical problems: (1) disregarding information, (2) misrepresenting existing research, and (3) misrepresenting facts in a case. These examples are demonstrated in the context of three different lawsuits involving forensic human factors experts. The article concludes with a discussion of the role of the forensic expert to help reveal the truth, and a suggestion to revise the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Code of Ethics.
The Tsadik and His Soul’s Sparks: From Kabbalah to Hasidism
The present study shows the continuity between the Safedian Kabbalistic view of the relations between the sparks of a certain soul, and the Hasidic theory, that was conceived of as innovated by and characteristic of 18th century Hasidism, as to the responsibility of the Tsadik for the sparks that belongs to his soul. In the two literatures, the rescue of a spark of one's soul is related to the beautiful captive woman that is conceived of as an externalization of an inner dimension of the righteous person, immersed in a shell.