Contractor Electrocuted in Shower in Iraq

CBS News reported that a 25-Year-old Contractor recently died from shoddy electrical wiring in a shower, which the article states is a widespread problem in Iraq.  The article can be found at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/08/world/main5295738.shtml.

The article stated that electrical wiring has been an ongoing problem in Iraq.  There have been at least three troops who have been electrocuted in the shower since the start of the Iraq War, while still others have been electrocuted under other circumstances such as while operating a power washer.  In an effort to prevent said injuries, inspections and repairs are under way at 90,000 U.S.-maintained structures there.

Hermanson background included that he grew up in San Diego and Las Vegas. He joined the military at age 17, and did three tours in Iraq with the Air Force before leaving at the rank of staff sergeant. He returned to Iraq as an employee of the Herndon, Va.-based private contractor Triple Canopy the article reported.

As is often the case, Mr. Hermanson took the contracting job so that his family would have money to buy a house in Muncy, Pa., where they were planning to live. His family is struggling to understand how he could survive four war tours, then die suddenly in a seemingly safe place.

In July, the Defense Department's inspector general said that of the 18 electrocution deaths of U.S. soldiers and contractors in Iraq, eight involved possible equipment faults or malfunctioning that caused or contributed to the electrocutions. The accidental touching of live wires was blamed in about half the deaths.