Reconstructing and Evaluating a Workplace Fatality Using Human Motion Capture

This Case Study documents our company's efforts to demystify a baffling on-the-job fatality. A central part of the solution was Human Motion Capture. Our company was hired to find out what occurred when a railroad worker was fatally injured by a moving train while dismounting his own locomotive. Human Motion Capture was used in combination with aerial photography, nighttime videography, computer graphics, witness testimony and actual railroad equipment to produce a visualization video. The resulting visualization assisted all parties in understanding how this workplace fatality happened. This understanding led to an out-of-court settlement. Human Motion Capture enabled a scientifically accurate reenactment of the accident using actual equipment without producing a second fatality. This paper could aid anyone analyzing a serious workplace injury, either for reconstruction or worker safety training purposes.