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KBR faulted in soldier’s electrocution

An Army investigation calls the electrocution death of a U.S. soldier in Iraq “negligent homicide” caused by military contractor KBR Inc. and two of its supervisors.

In a document obtained by The Associated Press, an Army criminal investigator says the manner of death for Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, has been changed from accidental to negligent homicide because the contractor failed to ensure that “qualified electricians and plumbers” worked on the barracks where Maseth died.

The Special Forces soldier from Pittsburgh died of cardiac arrest on Jan. 2, 2008. He was electrocuted while taking a shower in his barracks in Baghdad.

Maseth’s death occurred four years after an Army Corps of Engineers report warning that these electrical hazards on bases were a “killer of soldiers.”

Two electricians who formerly worked for KBR in Iraq testified at a July 2008 Congressional hearing that qualified supervision of electrical work on KBR jobs was “sorely lacking” and that many of the employees KBR hired were third-country nationals and Iraqis who weren't properly trained.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards did not apply on KBR job sites, Debbie Crawford, an experienced electrician and former KBR employee, testified at the hearing.

Maseth was one of 10 soldiers, two Marines and two civilians who died as a result of electrical hazards related to KBR-run showers, swimming pools and work spaces between March 2003 and January 2008.

Heather Browne, a KBR spokeswoman, said, “We cannot comment on the report by an unidentified Army investigator because we have not seen the report. KBR's investigation has produced no evidence that KBR was responsible for Sgt Maseth's death. We have cooperated fully with all government agencies investigating this matter and will do so in the future.”