Faulty wiring killing U.S. troops in Iraq

There are many qualified and competent KBR electricians, but not all KBR electricians were qualified to do this kind of work. When I applied in 2004, the job posting stated a license was required. No one in Houston asked to see my license or checked my job references. And no qualifications test was given. The current KBR job posting has no licensing requirements and states "typically requires two to five years of related experience."

In the United States, five years of experience barely gets you through an apprenticeship program.

We had one new-hire show up in Iraq as a journeyman electrician to do construction and maintenance work. He installed telephone lines in the United States. He was concerned about his safety because he was clearly working outside his area of expertise. He told me his qualifications were clearly stated on his resume. I contacted our foreman and he was transferred to the communications department. It is safe to assume he is not the first or the last electrician hired and expected to perform work outside their area of expertise.

Supervision by KBR was also sorely lacking. My electrical general foreman at the palace was not even an electrician, and yet he would argue with qualified electricians about quality, code and safety issues. He insisted I work on energized circuits in order to not inconvenience the clients, but then questioned my qualifications if I got shocked.

It got to the point that I would not inform him of everything I was doing in order to ensure I could do it correctly and safely. How can you effectively supervise electricians when you don't understand what they're doing, or what the potential ramifications are if it's not done correctly? Qualified electricians found it difficult to deal with the complacency, the lack of leadership, the lack of tools and material, and the lack of safety. Many didn't make it a month before they quit and went home.

Many of those who were committed to completing their contracts found themselves in constant conflict with supervisors, engineers and the safety department. Some just gave up and complied with their instructions.

Time and time again we heard, "This is not the States. OSHA doesn't apply here. You're in a war zone, what do you expect? And, if you don't like it, you can go home." The threats to send employees home were so prevalent that KBR corporate had to remind its supervisors and managers that it was against company policy to threaten employees. It was very common to threaten an employee with a transfer to a more hostile camp as a deterrent to raising concerns.

During the two years I was in Iraq working for KBR, I had not heard of any deaths due to accidental electrocution. To the best of my knowledge, there were no official KBR statements asking electricians and other personnel to take extra precautions. The electricians were not asked to heighten their level of awareness to potential shock hazards.

There was no supplemental training given on effective grounding and bonding. KBR has claimed that its contract did not cover fixing potential hazards, only repairing them after they broke down. It is my professional opinion that reported electrical shocks are not a potential hazard. It is an eminent hazard that needs immediate attention to prevent serious injury and death.

KBR claims to have an unwavering commitment to safety, but chose not to make these necessary repairs because the company claimed it was not part of the contract. As part of this commitment to safety, did KBR prohibit its own employees from entering the buildings where electrical shocks were taking place? I suspect not. The deaths we are discussing -- the deaths we are discussing could just as easily have been a KBR employee, most likely an unsuspecting plumber.

During just one six-month period -- August 2006 through January 2007 -- at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military's largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007.

And while the Pentagon has previously reported that 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq, many more have been injured, some seriously, by shocks, according to the documents. A log compiled earlier this year at one building complex in Baghdad disclosed that soldiers complained of receiving electrical shocks in their living quarters on an almost daily basis.

Electrical problems were the most urgent noncombat safety hazard for soldiers in Iraq, according to an Army survey issued in February 2007. It noted "a safety threat theaterwide created by the poor-quality electrical fixtures procured and installed, sometimes incorrectly, thus resulting in a significant number of fires."

The Army report said KBR, the Houston-based company that is responsible for providing basic services for American troops in Iraq, including housing, did its own study and found a "systemic problem" with electrical work.