Joseph Barnes

Nationally Recognized Premises Liability, Safety, OSHA & EMS Expert | Construction & Heavy Equipment | Falls, Struck-By, Worksite Failures & Ambulance Negligence

An award-winning safety executive and nationally recognized expert witness and doctoral candidate in Occupational Safety & Health with more than 25 years of experience in occupational safety, OSHA compliance, oil & gas, emergency medical services (EMS), and risk management across construction, industrial, transportation, and emergency response environments. He has been designated as a subject matter expert in over 1,000 matters and has provided sworn deposition testimony more than 100 times in both state and federal courts. Mr. Barnes offers specialized expertise in construction safety, general industry safety, premises liability cases, retail safety, multi-employer worksite liability, fall protection, hazard analysis, and accident causation, as well as EMS operations, ambulance services, and pre-hospital emergency care. He is frequently retained in cases involving catastrophic injuries, workplace accidents, safety management failures, OSHA cases, ambulance collisions, patient handling incidents, delayed or improper medical response, and failures in emergency scene management. As the Principal Consultant of BARCO Services EMS, Mr. Barnes provides nationwide expert witness services, litigation support, and safety consulting. His work includes root cause analysis, job hazard analysis, emergency response evaluation, and reconstruction of both workplace and EMS-related incidents. His background uniquely bridges occupational safety and emergency medicine, allowing him to evaluate both the cause of an incident and the adequacy of the medical response that followed. Mr. Barnes is an authorized OSHA Outreach Instructor in both Construction and General Industry through Texas A&M University and regularly teaches OSHA 500 and 501 courses, along with advanced instruction in fall protection, accident investigation, and safety management systems. He also serves as Adjunct Faculty in Safety & Health programs at Texas A&M University Engineering Extension, training professionals in regulatory compliance, hazard recognition, and risk mitigation. In addition to his safety credentials, Mr. Barnes is a licensed paramedic, Certified Emergency Medical Instructor, and Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician, with extensive experience in emergency medical operations and training. His EMS background provides critical insight into ambulance standards of care, patient assessment, transport protocols, and emergency scene decision-making. He holds multiple Certified Safety & Health Official designations, is a Registered Environmental Professional, and has received numerous industry awards for safety performance, including national recognition from the Associated General Contractors of America. Mr. Barnes is retained by both plaintiff and defense counsel and is known for delivering clear, well-supported opinions grounded in OSHA standards, EMS protocols, and real-world operational experience.