The Health and Safety Executive said on 3 November that it had issued a Crown Censure to the Ministry of Defence after a soldier died during a training exercise on Salisbury Plain. By accepting the censure, the MoD admitted breaching its duty under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

Private Jethro Watson-Pickering, 23, of the 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, died on 15 October 2021 during an exercise known as Iron Storm. He was driving a Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle when its gun barrel struck a tree. The turret rotated quickly and a rear storage bin attached to the turret struck his head.

What the investigation found

The HSE investigation found there was no safe system of work for driving the Scimitar during the exercise. Risk assessments had failed to identify the danger from the turret rotating without warning, and instruction and training were inadequate, particularly on the risk of turret rotation and on driving with the head up. The HSE said risk assessments had not been properly reviewed after similar incidents in previous years.

General Sir Roly Walker, Chief of the General Staff, accepted the censure on behalf of the Army. "We failed to properly assess and control the risks, failed in our training and instruction, and failed to provide a safe vehicle," he said, adding that his thoughts were first and foremost with Private Watson-Pickering's family and friends. A Crown Censure is the maximum sanction the HSE can impose on a Crown body.