Risky business

In its report, Beyond Endurance?, the House of Commons defence select committee reports that 135 members of the Armed Forces have died since January 2000 while training, including 20 reservists. The nature of the job entails risk; but while servicemen and women know they face danger on operational duty they are entitled to feel relatively safe on non-combat exercises.

Accidents are likely to be more frequent than in other walks of life; yet should this absolve the Ministry of Defence of accountability and culpability if a tragedy occurs?

The MoD retains an exemption for defined military activities from the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act, which allows for the conviction of organisations found guilty of serious management failures resulting in a gross breach of a duty of care. Campaigners have been pressing for the Act to be applied to the MoD, especially since the deaths of three reservists on an SAS exercise in the Brecon Beacons three years ago. Now, the select committee has concluded that the exemption should be removed. It cites the Armed Forces Covenant that commits the Government “to promote the health, safety and resilience of Servicemen and women”.

It is debatable whether this is the right conclusion. The committee acknowledges that the MoD is not blasé about training and has established a new Defence Safety Authority (DSA) to ensure the highest standards. The safety culture in the Armed Forces is generally good; there is a danger that an excessively cautious approach to training brought about by fear of litigation will leave combatants inadequately equipped for duties and place them in even greater danger – a point that Col Richard Kemp has made today. The Government needs to think carefully before imposing further legal constraints that could affect the operational capability of the Armed Forces.