Environmental Safety Associates (ESA) was formed in 1981 to provide consulting services in the fields of machine and facility safety, and industrial, architectural and community noise control - the specialties of the affiliate company, OSHEX Associates, Inc.

Mr. Andres has qualified as an expert witness in both noise and machine safety in a variety of cases, and is recognized as an exam-Certified Safety Professional (CSP), exam-Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE), and Certified Plant Engineer (CPE).

He has twenty-five years practical experience in applying and selling machine safeguards and controls, and noise and vibration control solutions. A primary strength is the ability to present machine safety and noise issues to a jury in simple, easy to understand language, and in analyzing incidents from the aspect of machine characteristics and human behavior. As the Chairman of ANSI B11.TR3, Risk Assessment and Reduction, Mr. Andres is recognized nationwide as a strong proponent of task-based risk assessment and the selection of protective measures appropriate to risk.

Machine safety services include:

Point-of-Operation Protection
Power transmission
Controls and Control Reliability
Safety Interlocks
Warnings
Ergonomics and Human Factors
Instructions and Training
Task-Based Risk Assessment
Interviews
Reports with inclusive digital photographs
Accident Investigation
Trial Testimony

Noise services include:

Preliminary noise studies for OSHA compliance
Dosimeter studies
Octave-Band Analysis
Reverberation Testing
Noise and Vibration Design Criteria
Application of Noise Control Techniques
Noise Control Materials Selection
Analysis and/or Preparation of Noise Legislation
Challenge of Noise Legislation
Interviews
Problem Resolution out-of-court
Trial Testimony
 

Curriculum Vitae

Robert N. Andres was born December 19, 1937 in Albany, New York. He is  married with five children and eleven grandchildren.

He graduated from Clarkson University in 1964 with a BS in Interdisciplinary Engineering and Management (IE&M) after three-years active duty in the US Army Security Agency. He served as a manufacturing and facilities engineer and systems development manager with General Dynamics Corporation, and as production and inventory control manager for R.E. Dietz Company, prior to forming Oshex Associates, Inc., specializing in noise control, machine and plant safety, in 1975.

He is a Professional Member of the American Society of Safety Engineers and the Engineering and Consultants Divisions; a member of the Association for Facilities Engineering, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the American College of Forensic Examiners, the Human Factors 
Society, the Standards Engineering Society, and a past member of the National Society and NYS Society of Professional Engineers, National Registry of Environmental Professionals, the Society of American Military Engineers and the Construction Specifications Institute.

He has served as a consultant to engineering firms, and to attorneys and insurance companies in over ninety cases of accident litigation - most resulting from machine or facility-related injuries involving operations, maintenance, construction, facility or equipment design, or failure to train or warn. In addition, he has conducted over a dozen courses in Community Noise Measurement and Control, and a two-day course for police agencies in Watercraft Noise Measurement at the request of the NYS Department of Parks and Recreation.

Since 1991, he has held elected office as Administrator, Secretary and Education Coordinator for the Engineering Division of ASSE, and as President, Program Coordinator and Newsletter Editor for the Central New York Chapter of ASSE. He serves as a member of the ANSI B11.20 and B11.3 sub-committees, and chairs the ANSI B11 TR3  "Risk Assessment and Reduction" sub-committee.

In June 1995, he delivered a peer-reviewed paper entitled "Machine Safeguarding - An Overview" at ASSE SafetyTech 2000 in Orlando, and "Machine Safety - A Global Approach" at the ASSE Professional Development Conference in 1997. Most recently, he authored the Chapter 12, "Safety in Design," in Safety and Health Management Planning, by James Kohn and Ted Ferry, Government Institutes Press, 1999. A complete listing of published articles and presentations is available upon request.

His credits include recognition as an exam-Certified Safety Professional (CSP) by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, exam-Certified manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE) by the Manufacturing Engineering Certification Institute (MECI), and Certified Plant Engineer (CPE) by the American Institute of Plant Engineers (AIPE). He was designated ASSE Engineering Division Safety Professional of the Year - 1994, and was named Diplomate - Board Certified Forensic Examiner by the ACFE in 1996.