Field Investigation Safety with Inflatable Restraint Systems

While examining a vehicle fitted with an inflatable restraint (air bag) system, an investigator may be exposed to certain hazards that he or she may not be aware of or not equipped to deal with. As information to help the investigator avoid pitfalls which may compromise safety and ultimately lead to an injury, this paper reviews three principal hazard potentials:

• exposure to bloodborne pathogens,
• exposure to toxic residue (fire-generated or post system deployment), and
• biomechanical blunt impact or laceration trauma (due to unintended system deployment).