While the company has been heavily involved in the coal sector, the consultancy is branching out into the wider resources space, including oil and gas, with its forensic engineering arm.

Soto Consulting steps in when WorkCover authorities and police investigators need a forensic specialist to identify precise causes of equipment failure, system or structure collapse and other incidents such as explosion or fire.

Soto managing director Frank Soto said it was very much along the lines of how investigative policing was carried out “but in an engineering perspective to determine the cause of failure that resulted in serious injury death, or exposing potential problems ahead of operation to ensure dangers and risk are identified”

Forensic engineering can be defined as post or pre-failure analysis, often for litigation support, with the goal of accurately identifying the sequence of events leading to ultimate failure or injury to personnel or the public.

Traditionally, government departments, agencies or university professors perform this role, often appearing in court to deliver their independent findings.

Soto sees it as an augmentation to the engineering profession (even though engineers are not usually regarded for this work), as root causes onsite can be readily examined and identified as methods of failure.

Soto Consulting has in-house expertise and virtual analysis tools to do probability balances, dimensional checks or detailed computerised analysis to determine if the equipment in question was being used in a way not intended by the original designer – for example, a mismatch of equipment resulting in a casualty.

“We are brought in as technical experts to review and model potential causes of failure in the plant, equipment and systems,” Soto said.

“Comprehensive checks are made to analyse if equipment was being used and maintained as indicated.

“We determine if design changes made to machinery or equipment corresponds to proprietary design control methods then document whether modified equipment preformed in a safe manner, protecting the public and operator from risk.

Soto Consulting identifying the root cause of an incident is often challenging – whether the principal investigating body is a WorkCover division, insurance company or police – because what is left is often a molten mass, collapsed structure or a serious injury or incident that will require its forensic team to find the one event in a series that resulted in the critical failure or injury.

“The other side of forensic engineering can see any of our engineers be called in as an expert witness for insurance companies or litigants,” Soto said.

“In this scenario, an arbitrary or judicial outcome may strongly evolve around findings from forensic engineering.

“Key to a successful outcome is to look through all the evidence and conduct an engineering analysis using proven analytical methods founded on engineering principles and advanced analysis simulations.

“Forensic engineering is highly methodical – the aim is to determine if owners and operators deviated in any way from original equipment manufacturer operating procedures and maintenance requirements.

“Forensic engineering is a skill requiring a lot of disciplined training and many years of experience in working with other investigative authorities and technical specialists and we have that.”