Story Highlight
- Military personnel, civilians and visitors sustained injuries at MoD bases.
- A cadet fainted and broke his jaw at a Remembrance parade.
- Two soldiers required spinal surgery after bucket ball games.
- A member of the public fractured four teeth during a tour.
- MoD paid £135.5 million in compensation for incidents last year.
Full Story
A recent dossier has detailed a year’s worth of accidents involving military personnel, civilian staff, and visitors at Ministry of Defence bases in the UK. Compiled by safety officers who monitor serious incidents for the Health and Safety Executive, the report highlights various incidents that resulted in injuries.
Among the recorded events, a Ministry of Defence police dog handler was bitten on the privates by his own dog, Sem, during exercise preparation. The dog has been retired following the incident. In another case, a soldier in a regimental gym dropped a 15kg dumbbell, injuring the end of his little finger.
A Royal Navy cadet was reported to have fainted during a Remembrance parade, resulting in a broken jaw when he fell. This incident occurred shortly after cadets were questioned about their food consumption while being given doughnuts and pastries.
Also noted in the dossier was an incident involving a member of the public on an RAF training hangar tour, who sustained four broken teeth and a shoulder fracture while exiting an inflated life raft. Consequently, the use of survival equipment for visitors at that unit has been prohibited pending investigation into the tour’s approval.
At HMS Raleigh in Cornwall, two Royal Navy recruits sustained broken arms during rope climbing exercises, prompting a formal investigation into the safety of this training method due to the frequency of injuries. The report also cited multiple incidents involving Ministry of Defence police officers who suffered injuries during restraint training, including dislocated shoulders.
Additional injuries reported included a control room operator who required emergency dental care after being pranked by a colleague, and two soldiers at a Hampshire base who underwent spinal surgery after casual lunchtime games of bucket ball. Other incidents involved a trainee on a quad bike course who mistakenly accelerated into a steel door, along with accidents attributed to tripping over potholes in car parks and a Royal Marines hopeful who fractured his leg on an assault course.
In the past year, the Ministry of Defence has disbursed £135.5 million in compensation to service personnel and £16.2 million to civilian staff for various incidents, although it remains unclear if these payments are related to the documented accidents.
Professor Bill Durodie, Chair of Risk and Security in International Relations at the University of Bath, described the report’s findings as concerning for national security and the military’s operational readiness. He noted that while accidents can occur anywhere, the nature of some incidents raises questions about acceptable behaviours.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson stated that robust policies are in place to ensure the health and safety of staff, and that they investigate accidents to prevent future occurrences. Compensation claims are evaluated to assess legal liability before any payments are made.
Source: read the original report.
What this means for your site
The incidents reported highlight significant lapses in safety management protocols within the Ministry of Defence environments. A thorough risk assessment and adherence to health and safety legislation must be prioritized to prevent similar occurrences in the future. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 applies here, mandating a duty of care to ensure safety for employees and the public during all activities. Additionally, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 necessitates carrying out risk assessments that account for the diverse range of activities conducted on military bases.
Concrete measures to enhance safety could include implementing stringent supervision during all physical training and recreational activities to minimize risks inherent in ‘mucking around.’ Furthermore, a systematic review of safety protocols surrounding the use of equipment during training exercises should be established, ensuring that all instructors are adequately trained to manage risks effectively. Regular safety audits could also be instituted to identify potential hazards proactively, thereby fostering a culture of safety that extends to both personnel and visitors alike.
