The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.
Mr. McNamara
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many trainees have been (a) killed and (b) injured in the last 10 years; and in each case what the type of training being undertaken and the cause of injury or death was. [123950]
Mr. Caplin
Between 1 January 1993 and 31 December 2002 there were 112 Regular Service trainees killed through fatal injuries. It is not possible to provide individual details for each trainee as this would compromise service personnel confidentiality. Comprehensive information on non-fatal injuries is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The following table provides details of the deaths of the trainees killed as a result of injuries, broken down by cause.
| Regular armed forces trainee personnel killed due to fatal injuries: 1993–2002 | |
| Cause of death | Number killed |
| Training and Exercises-Accidents | 10 |
| Firearms | 3 |
| Environmental factors (e.g. Excessive heat/cold pressure) | 3 |
| Road traffic accidents | 1 |
| Drowning | 1 |
| Falls, twisting, turning, slipping etc. | 2 |
| On-Duty Accidents | 10 |
| Road traffic accidents | 5 |
| Firearms1 | 2 |
| Aircraft | 2 |
| Parachute | 1 |
| Off-Duty Accidents | 68 |
| Road traffic accidents | 46 |
| Poisoning | 6 |
| Hanging, suffocation, strangulation etc. | 5 |
| Falls, twisting, turning, slipping etc. | 4 |
| Firearms1 | 2 |
| Drowning | 2 |
| Aircraft | 1 |
| Machinery and tools | 1 |
| Water transport | 1 |
| Suicide2 | 23 |
| Off duty criminal shooting | 1 |
| Total killed | 112 |
| 1 Includes deaths awaiting coroner's verdicts. | |
| 2 Defined as coroner's verdicts of suicide and open. Please note that suicide and open verdicts are subject to change as outstanding coroner's verdicts are reported. | |