Anyone who has been involved in or witnessed a serious accident, incident or near miss involving the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) should contact the DAIB. Notification phone numbers are primarily used by military personnel and MOD civil servants or any accident investigation department within the UK or international accident department where UK MOD personnel are involved.
In the event of a death, accident, serious incident or near miss, the Defense Accident Investigation Branch (DAIB) must be notified immediately on 01980 348622.
The number is monitored 24/7 and officers on duty will be briefed on details of the incident and make an initial assessment of whether the DAIB should deploy investigators.
In deciding whether an accident or incident should be reported to the DAIB, consideration should be given to: the extent and extent of the injury sustained; any impact on or loss of operational capability; the significance of any environmental damage following the incident; the potential impact on the department’s reputation, and the Any early assessment of whether DoD can learn lessons. If you are unsure whether an accident or incident requires DAIB involvement then you should call the DAIB duty officer on 01980 348622 and seek further guidance.
If a defense activity or activity within the defense industry results in death or serious injury, the immediate action is to notify the emergency services or, in the event of an action, to act in accordance with equivalent emergency response protocols and then contact the DAIB.
When to notify the DAIB
The DAIB should be notified immediately of the following for classification and determination of further investigation:
(a) Death and Serious Injury.
All potential safety-related accidents and serious incidents involving MOD’s employment, activities, or property resulting in death or serious injury to service personnel or civilians.
(b) Aviation Accidents.
Any accident resulting in Category 4 or 5 damage to the aircraft. Any incident in which an aviation system or process fails and endangers the safety of defense personnel or the public.
(c) Marine Casualties.
Any incident such as collision, grounding, explosion, severe fire or severe flood which renders a ship or submarine wholly or partially out of service. Any incident in which a maritime system malfunctions and endangers defense personnel or the public.
(d) Accidents on Land.
Any incident in which a ground system fails and endangers defense personnel or the public.
(e) Ordnance, ammunition and explosives.
Any accidental detonation of ordnance, ammunition, or explosives that causes damage to MODs or public property, or endangers the safety of defense personnel or the public.
(f) Fire.
Any serious fire causing significant damage to the MOD or public property. g. nuclear. Any nuclear accident rated Level 3 or above on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.
(g) Environmental incidents.
Any environmental event rated as Category 1 or 2 on the UNEP scale or local equivalent. (It’s worth noting that this is an underreported area in terms of notifying the DAIB). A generation. Fever and cold. According to JSP 375 Chapters 41 and 42, the DAIB must be notified of all suspected or confirmed cases of heat and cold.
(h) Narrow misses.
Any incident of death, serious injury or serious incapacity was narrowly avoided.
About DAIB
The DAIB within the Defense Security Agency (DSA) provides the Department of Defense with an independent multimodal accident and incident investigation capability. Capable of being deployed globally, DAIB is on call 24/7 to conduct impartial and professional no-fault security investigations at sea, on land and in the air. The DAIB also provides unified tracking of security investigation recommendations up to closure. The DAIB is located in MOD Boscombe Down.
The DSA Director General requires prompt notification of all potential safety-related accidents and serious incidents involving MOD employment, activities, or property that result in death or serious injury of service personnel or civilians, and/or any significant loss of operational capability.
