Abstract: At approximately 2:30 a.m. on October 2, 1998, Employee #1, a welder, was walking behind another welder on the deck of the ship Southern River, which was in dry dock for repairs. He fell approximately 17 ft through a hole in the deck and landed in the bottom of a liquid holding tank that was being modified. Employee #1 suffered massive head trauma and was killed instantly. Witnesses reported that rope guard barriers were down in the area where Employee #1 fell; other witnesses stated that the rope guard barriers had been up two days before the accident, when welding was being done in the area.