Inquest finds drowning of Shell refinery worker was accidental

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12852300?nclick_check=1

By Malaika Fraley
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 07/16/2009 01:20:20 PM PDT
Updated: 07/17/2009 05:58:29 PM PDT

MARTINEZ — Friends and family of an Antioch man and Shell Martinez Refinery employee who drowned in a water tower at the facility shed tears of relief after jurors at an inquest into the death determined it was accidental.

The verdict Thursday answered questions over whether 22-year Shell veteran William Maddock could have committed suicide over severe back pain or stress April 29, the day his body was found in the open tank of a 30-foot tower. He was wearing a backpack weighing about 30 pounds.

But Maddock, a 54-year-old father of two, had told several family members and his doctor that he had been wearing weights and climbing towers at the Shell facility for exercise, witnesses testified.

The guardrail on the water tower does not meet the standards set by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Cal/OSHA investigator Eric Berg testified. The agency requires such guardrails to measure between 42 and 45 inches in height; the Shell railing measured only 37 inches. That could have easily provided a tripping factor for Maddock, who was 6 feet 5 inches tall, Berg said.

Maddock would have been unable to save himself once in water, regardless of the weighted backpack, which he had secured with duct tape at the shoulder straps, according to testimony. The water line was 10 feet below the top of the tower.

The tower did not have a safety ladder inside the tank, another violation of Cal/OSHA rules, Berg said.

Cal/OSHA's own investigation into Maddock's death has not been completed, but could result in potential citations and penalties for the refinery, Berg said.

FULL story at link.

[MrModerate]

1. The tripping hazard's bad enough, but could be written off to a judgment call . . .

But no escape ladder in the tank? Unforgivably stupid.