Five MoD Fatalities Linked To Safety Issues, Says Report

The Ministry of Defence (MoD)'s health and safety 2017/2018 report shows five of the 13 fatalities in that period have been linked to safety. 

The deaths include two during live fire, one in an aircraft accident, one in a vehicle accident, and another while diving. The report does not detail exactly what happened nor any sanction which may have followed.

In total, more than 13,000 injuries were reported in the year, with just over 8,000 among serving personnel.

More injuries were caused during training than in any other activity for full-time members of the Armed Forces, the figures show. 

A total of 441 injuries (13%) took place on adventure training, 444 (13%) on exercise, and 896 (26%) during physical training which includes endurance training.

Meanwhile, normal duties made up 26% of injuries and sport/recreation 22%.

For training, normal duties and sport/recreation - the lower body was the body area most frequently injured.

The Army accounted for the majority of injuries among Armed Forces personnel, whilst MoD civilians and cadets were also included in the overall statistics. 

Hilary Meredith, Visiting Professor of Law and Veterans’ Affairs at the University of Chester, said: “These figures clearly show that the MoD is failing in its duty of care towards servicemen and women.

“Despite all the warnings, the MoD’s health and safety performance is actually getting worse.

“Military personnel are suffering serious injuries because the MoD is negligently failing to follow its own safety rules.

“It is also a fact that more men and women die while training for war than in war – and this cannot be acceptable on any front. We acknowledge that training has to be realistic but not to the point of death.”

The report also showed women were at a significantly higher risk of injury, with personnel under 30 and those classed as 'untrained' also more likely to report.

Throughout the period, almost 21,000 Health and Safety incidents were reported by the MoD.

The annual health and safety report said 28% of the injury and ill-health incidents in 2017/18 were Riddor reportable, which means they were so serious that staff were legally required to report them to the Health and Safety Executive.