Abstract: Employee #1 and a crew had driven 32 wood piles and were changing the configuration of the handles to drive a steel pile. It was a windy and rainy day. The crane operator dried the drum brakes and moved the hammer leads over the deck and lowered them onto blocks. The drum brakes were wet again by this time so the operator dried the brakes a second time. He tried without success to seal the brakes to keep the rain out. The company owner and an inspector were adjacent to the pile driver, both involved in other tasks. Apparently, Employee #1 went through the beds on the opposite side of the pile guide. The hammer slipped against the wet drum brakes, striking Employee #1 in the back three times. He was killed. Before the accident, Employee #1 was told not to expose himself by walking through the beds, but to walk around them.