Evidence preservation
Definition
The discipline of maintaining physical evidence in its post-incident condition until all parties have had the opportunity to examine it. Includes both preventing accidental damage and preventing intentional alteration.
Related terms
- ASTM E860
- Standard Practice for Examining and Preparing Items That Are or May Become Involved in Criminal or Civil Litigation. Specifies documentation requirements and...
- Destructive examination
- Testing that consumes or modifies the evidence: sectioning for metallurgical mounts, chemical digestion for composition analysis, mechanical testing to failure. Requires notice...
- Hypothesis generation and testing
- The step in failure analysis where possible causes are listed systematically, then each is tested against the physical evidence and engineering calculations....
- Non-destructive examination (NDE)
- Inspection methods that do not alter or consume the evidence: visual inspection, photography, dimensional measurement, dye-penetrant testing, ultrasonic testing, and radiography. NDE...
- Root cause
- The fundamental, underlying deficiency from which the failure originated. Distinguished from immediate cause (the final physical event) and contributing factors. Root-cause analysis...
Explained in
- The Failure Investigation ProcessThe discipline of maintaining physical evidence in its post-incident condition until all parties have had the opportunity to examine it. Includes both preventi...