Military Training Deaths: Need to Ensure That Safety Lessons Are Learned and Implemented
NSIAD-94-82
Published: May 05, 1994. Publicly Released: May 05, 1994.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the military services' investigations of training-related deaths, focusing on whether the services: (1) identified and investigated all training-related deaths; (2) ensured adequate independence of investigations; and (3) had systems for ensuring that corrective actions are taken.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should formally define what constitutes a training-related death and include in that definition deaths due to natural causes that occur during or shortly after a training activity. |
DOD has developed a definition of "training-related" death which will be included in the revised accident reporting instruction, scheduled for issuance by the end of 1994.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the services to amend their regulations to include the common definition for training-related death and require that all training-related deaths be investigated. |
The DOD revised accident reporting instruction now includes a common definition for "training-related" death and requires that all such deaths be investigated.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the services to enforce the Department of Defense's requirement to conduct safety and legal investigations on all training-related deaths, both aviation and non-aviation. |
DOD will now use the "training-related" death definition to ensure that required safety investigations are conducted.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the services to ensure the independence of legal investigations by requiring that the: (1) convening authority come from a higher level than the unit that experienced the mishap; and (2) senior investigative member also be independent of that unit. |
DOD will direct the services to ensure the independence of legal investigations of homicides, suicides, and accidents associated with military training by requiring that the: (1) convening authority come from a higher level than the unit that experienced the training fatality; and (2) senior investigative member also be independent of that unit.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the services to establish systems to track safety recommendations made in legal investigative reports to ensure that appropriate actions have been taken. |
DOD revision of the accident investigation instruction requires that safety recommendations contained in any type of investigation be tracked using the existing safety tracking system.
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Topics
Accident preventionAccidentsInternal controlsInvestigations by federal agenciesMilitary personnelMilitary trainingOccupational safetySafety regulationSafety standardsWorking conditions