Abstract: Employee #1 was a deckhand on a 42 ft, 20 gross ton tugboat that was pushing a barge up a river. He was sitting in a chair outside the tugboat's wheelhouse. He was not wearing a life jacket or vest. The tugboat captain was in the wheelhouse piloting the boat. Because the temperature was cool, Employee #1 decided to go inside the wheelhouse. When he rose from the chair, he apparently lost his balance and fell against the guardrail securing the deck. The guardrail broke and Employee #1 fell approximately 8 ft from the deck into the river. His body was not recovered until eight days later. The official cause of death was listed as drowning. There was no life ring or rope in the immediate vicinity of the wheelhouse. The medical examiner's toxicological examination of Employee #1 revealed cocaine, metabolite, and nicotine in his urine, but not in his blood.