Electrocutions kill at least 12 soldiers, Marines in Iraq

[swpa19]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation..._troops20.html


The investigation was prompted by the death of Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pennsylvania, who was electrocuted Jan. 2 while taking a shower in his living quarters in the Radwaniyah Palace Complex in Baghdad. Initially, Maseth's mother, Cheryl Harris, was told her son -- serving in the Army's Special Forces -- had a small, electrical appliance with him in the shower.

[18C4V]

After I seen that safety message, I noticed a surge of guys using the outside showers instead of the ones in the buidling in our compound.

[Guy]

OSHA has NO jurisdiction OCONUS....

[Pete]

I'll throw in my two cents.

Engineers.

Everybody likes to get real comfy when you have contractors doing the donkey work around camps.

The senior Engineer, be it a Corporal or LTC should understand how his little piece of the world operates. How stuff comes in, how it is used, how it goes out and how and what the contractor is doing to keep it all going. Wire size, loads, grounding? Water source?

Had me a cook one time that cut all the water bottles he used after he saw how the locals were recycling them.

I would hope the safty messages included something like the above - to take a look at camp systems.

[Guy]

Pete:

What you are seeing is education-vs-experience...

"Your best engineers are those with hands on experience."

BTW...these should have been installed http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/i.../infgfi.html#1 because of the close proximity of water

Stay safe.

[cold1]

Originally Posted by Guy

Pete:

What you are seeing is education-vs-experience...

"Your best engineers are those with hands on experience."

BTW...these should have been installed.

What you are seeing is pure stupidity. If the person overseeing the work had either education or experience this would never had happened. The plumbing and pump was ungrounded. There is no reason for this except someones stupidity. The only thing that had to be done to prevent this from happening would be to attach a wire to the plumbing and to the ground leg of the circuit or make sure the ground wire is connected up at the pump. That way the plumbing could never have any voltage on it. When the pump shorted out it would have tripped its breaker or blown a fuse.

Who ever the overseer was on these projects should be hung and have their stupidity taken out of the gene pool.

[Guy]

Cold-

The supervision of a "construction" project is not as simple as one would think, especially in a foriegn country. The USA method and means of construction has a lot of checks and balance incorporated into different phases.

If that had happened here...Any construction would have ceased! OSHA investigation started and lawyers contacted.

Stay safe.

[Guy]

Originally Posted by cold1

What you are seeing is pure stupidity. If the person overseeing the work had either education or experience this would never had happened. The plumbing and pump was ungrounded. There is no reason for this except someones stupidity.

Here's a good article...

The main builder of the sprawling, 21-building embassy is First Kuwaiti General Trade and Contracting Co., a Middle Eastern firm that is already under Justice Department scrutiny over alleged labor abuses. First Kuwaiti also erected the guard base, prompting some State Department officials in Washington and Baghdad to worry that the problems exposed in the camp suggest trouble lurking ahead for the rest of the embassy complex.

The first signs of trouble, according to the cable, emerged when the kitchen staff tried to cook the inaugural meal in the new guard base on May 15. Some appliances did not work. Workers began to get electric shocks. Then a burning smell enveloped the kitchen as the wiring began to melt.

All the food from the old guard camp -- a collection of tents -- had been carted to the new facility, in the expectation that the 1,200 guards would begin moving in the next day. But according to the cable, the electrical meltdown was just the first problem in a series of construction mistakes that soon left the base uninhabitable, including wiring problems, fuel leaks and noxious fumes in the sleeping trailers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...401685_pf.html

Stay safe.

[ODA 226]

When I was in charge of CI at Taji, NONE of our facilities were grounded. When I reported it to the Mayor Cell, they told me to "carry on". I refused on safety grounds for my personnel and told them that I was stopping all screening and CI operations until the buildings were wired and grounded to my satisfaction.

The buildings were re-wired and grounded within 24 hours.

226

[FMF DOC]

Hey,

I'm hoping you guys got some pull... After reading this and some more investigating, this is happening way to much. My Jr. Corpsman was killed in Elscaneria I may have spelled that wrong while taking a shower put up by foriegn contractors... This is assnine, how simple can it be to install proper showers. All of our hereos serving deserve better than this.

Thanks,

DOC "C"

[cold1]

Originally Posted by Guy

The supervision of a "construction" project is not as simple as one would think, especially in a foriegn country. The USA method and means of construction has a lot of checks and balance incorporated into different phases.


Stay safe.

Yes sir, I understand and agree. I see somewhat similar things here in construction sites. After the place I work for accepts a building we, the in house maintenance, must go behind the contractor and repair all the problems they left behind. We usually dont see something this dangerous.

I am almost positive that these installations are "managed" similar to a US model when it comes to construction in that someone with authority is supposed to sign off as work completed. That is the person that should be strung up. That person is usually supposed to be knowlegable about contsruction methods and have Safety as their first priority. Someone is not doing their job or dose not know their job, either way they should suffer the same fate as the soldiers who died in the showers. It is bad enough that a soldier has to give up their life in combat but to die in such a stupid senario is unforgivable.


FMF DOC
The problem is easily identified and corrected. I am sure that there is some form of electrician or electronics tech nearby. They can diagnose the problem and correct it easily. Just look for some body carring a tool bag and start asking for their help. I dont want to try scare anybody and I am not going to give armchair instructions. The military has qualified people to handle this, they just need to be found and asked for help.

As a side note, in older houses they sometimes used the plumbing as the ground for the house back when all plumbing was metal pipes.

[Guy]

Originally Posted by cold1

Yes sir, I understand and agree. I see somewhat similar things here in construction sites. After the place I work for accepts a building we, the in house maintenance, must go behind the contractor and repair all the problems they left behind. We usually dont see something this dangerous.

New buildings are usually warrantied for a year.

I am almost positive that these installations are "managed" similar to a US model when it comes to construction in that someone with authority is supposed to sign off as work completed. That is the person that should be strung up. That person is usually supposed to be knowlegable about contsruction methods and have Safety as their first priority. Someone is not doing their job or dose not know their job

You are correct!

...either way they should suffer the same fate as the soldiers who died in the showers.

If it was only that easy....

It is bad enough that a soldier has to give up their life in combat but to die in such a stupid senario is unforgivable.

I agree.

Stay safe.

[Seer]

Featured on cnn.com today. Check the link.

Tragic.

We don't require a hot link to cnn to check it out. Team Sergeant

[CoLawman]

Originally Posted by swpa19

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation..._troops20.html


The investigation was prompted by the death of Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pennsylvania, who was electrocuted Jan. 2 while taking a shower in his living quarters in the Radwaniyah Palace Complex in Baghdad. Initially, Maseth's mother, Cheryl Harris, was told her son -- serving in the Army's Special Forces -- had a small, electrical appliance with him in the shower.

It only took 8 months since SSG Maseth died to appoint a committee to oversee inspection of all sites! I wonder how long it will take to begin fixing the problem?

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...6P8NwD92BJKTG1 August 4, 2008