Armed Forces: Death
(asked on 24th November 2020) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many accidental deaths there have been in the (a) Royal Air Force, (b) Royal Navy and (c) British Army in each of the last five years.
The Ministry of Defence takes the health and wellbeing of our personnel extremely seriously.
The establishment of the Defence Safety Authority in 2015 was followed by a review and strengthening of Head Office’s governance of Health, Safety, and Environmental Protection (HS&EP). The Defence Secretary has set out his commitment to HS&EP in a Policy Statement requiring the Department to minimise work-related fatalities.
The table below provides a breakdown of deaths due to accidents in the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force in each of the last five years.
Year | Deaths due to accidents by Service | ||
Royal Navy | Army | Royal Air Force | |
2019 | 1 | 20 | 7 |
2018 | 3 | 16 | 3 |
2017 | 2 | 19 | 2 |
2016 | 4 | 17 | 4 |
2015 | 5 | 14 | 3 |
Notes:
- Data is for regular armed forces personnel only.
- These figures are provisional and may be subject to change following coroners’ inquests into 11 deaths currently awaiting verdicts.
3. Royal Navy includes the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
4. This information is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-deaths-in-service-statistics-index
The information provided includes all deaths that occurred both on and off duty among regular personnel. It does not identify those deaths that were work related that may or may not have been the result of health and safety failures.