Public Policy Commons^™

Ddasaccident349, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred at a distance of 18.2m from the road – datum line, in the “cleared” area where the vegetation was very thoroughly removed by vertical cutting – using an axe. Accident happened when the sign for the break was given, while the deminers were leaving the minefield towards the Control point. The cause of the accident is the PROM –1 mine activated with pressure.

Ddasaccident312, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Work on the left lane was obstructed by a tree so the victim cleared 1x1m boxes from the side of the right lane. At 10:45, the victim was nearing completion of the 3rd box, and was just standing up to remove some grass that he had cut, when an unplanned explosion took place at his feet. It transpired that he had inadvertently detonated an explosive device.

Ddasaccident206, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim "was preparing a mine for demolition in the middle of the second working lane" when then the accident occurred at 11:30. He had a trowel and shears with him at the time of the accident. The handle of the trowel "was separated horizontally and was burned." A prodder was found to the right of the crater. He "received many injuries to the head, to both legs and arms". He showed no sign of life when reached by other deminers.

Ddasaccident258, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators concluded that the victim was working correctly and was excavating a detector reading rather than prodding because of "high gravel content" in the ground. They found that "sufficient water was on site and used". They believed that the mine may have been in a tilted position. They added that the victim "was protected from serious injury by wearing protective clothing correctly".

Ddasaccident259, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators concluded that the victim was working correctly and was excavating a detector reading. They found that his visor and apron were "covered with mud" and his deformed trowel was found lying about a metre from the detonation. The soil around the hole was still wet, showing that the victim has used enough water to soften the ground. Beneath the point of detonation was "a deep burrow, probably dug by mice". "Detonation signs" were only visible on one side of the "blast hole".

Ddasaccident207, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The primary cause of this accident is listed as a "Management/control inadequacy" because the system of sending out Level 1 survey teams without protection is inherently and obviously dangerous. To expect the surveyors to always be able to correctly assess an area prior to entering it implies a lack of knowledge and/or thought on the part of those who devised the system. The parameters of survey seem to have been confused, with inadequate SOPs and the surveyors having no clear idea of the limitations of their work. With the work ill defined, the training cannot have been appropriate, so the …

Ddasaccident319, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred in a mined area surrounding a former Frelimo/Zimbabwean soldier’s camp. The demining team was using a combination of manual and MDD techniques. At 07:50, victim No.1, the Team Leader, stepped on the mine and his right foot was amputated.

Ddasaccident257, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators concluded that the victim was carrying out an excavation drill correctly. A high "gravel" content in the soil made excavation the correct drill to use. His blast apron was covered with mud, which was taken as proof that he was using water to soften the ground. The investigators thought it likely that the mine was unusually sensitive due to having spent "more than 20 years in the ground". They thought it possible that the spring firing mechanism was already partly depressed.

Ddasaccident261, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim was carrying out a normal excavation drill at 10:45 when a mine, "suspected R2M2…functioned" and he suffered a slight cut and some bruising to his left hand.

Ddasaccident120, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim was the one of a two-man team and was supposed to be "controlling" his partner who was in the clearance lane. The victim claimed that he had noticed an object "that he did not recognise" and prodded it with a piece of wire when it exploded. He sustained "lacerations and some light fragment damage to his hands… deep lacerations and damage to his left thumb and forefinger and lighter lacerations to his right middle finger".

Ddasaccident121, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim was a Team Leader whose duties included disarming R2M2 mines. At 06:27 the Victim was "neutralising" an R2M2 mine by removing its booster charge [unscrewed from below] when the mine detonated. Another Team Leader witnessed the event and reported that the Victim was wearing his protective equipment (visor and apron) properly.

Ddasaccident010, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim had been investigating a detector reading (at around 11:00) with his prodder when a mine [identified as an R2M2 by inference] detonated. He had bruised (sprained) his thumb. He had no other injury.

Ddasaccident011, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The demining group were clearing the Zimbabwe/Mozambique border minefields. The detector used was a Vallon with a folding handle. Deminers reported being poorly paid at the time and morale was low. The site management was intensely unpopular and seen as having little relevant background in humanitarian demining.

Ddasaccident575, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Two army EOD specialists have been seriously injured, both suffering amputations. [This is the second of those victims. No details of how the accident occurred have been made available. It is inferred that he touched the submunition in order to move it because this was the common feature in other accidents with this munition at this time.]

Ddasaccident334, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The Victim was working in a breaching party making a lane to the top of the hill. He had been working for 20 minutes when he registered a detector reading. He then either moved to mark the reading and stood on the mine or marked the reading and stepped back, stepping on the mine.

Ddasaccident574, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The rest of us kept walking for another five minutes and then we heard a terrible detonation. Somehow, we knew what it was. The sound was different, much louder; sinister, if I can put it that way. We knew that it was [the Victim]. We ran back and the only thing we could see was one blood-stained boot hanging from a tree. And then we realised that he had been blown to pieces. We had to pick each of the pieces up by ourselves; there was nobody else who could do it. The only part of his body that kept …

Ddasaccident208, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

At 16:10 the victim changed roles with his partner and began work. His partner withdrew 30 metres. His partner saw him work with the Schiebel An 19/2 detector, put it down and kneel to prod. Then he put the prodder aside. About 30 seconds later, at 16:20 [ten minutes before work was to stop at 16:30], the victim initiated a PROM-1 mine which "appears to have exploded directly next to his head and chest". He had not told his partner that he had found a mine.

To Walk The Earth In Safety 1st Edition (Fy1998), Us Dos Pm/Wra

Global CWD Repository

To Walk the Earth in Safety. The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining informs the reader about the U.S. commitment to rid the world by the year 2010 of anti-personnel landmines (APL) which pose a threat to civilians. The most recent U.S. Government survey identified 93 countries affected with either an APL, or an unexploded ordnance (UXO) problem, or both. Although the estimates regarding the number of mines implanted in each country vary widely among sources, the U.S. estimate of APL infestation is approximately 60-70 million worldwide. This report covers FY1998.

Ddasaccident155, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Both reports agreed that the victim had located a signal with a Vallon detector and was investigating it with his prodder when the mine detonated at 08:05. The victim walked unaided to the base line where he was treated first by the team medic and then by the site doctor.

Ddasaccident186, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The report stated that at the time of the accident there were three team leaders and the driver in the cab and an unspecified number of deminers in the back. On arriving at the site the driver inquired about the mines and subsequently pressed the top of one as it was being held by a Team Leader, making the detonator explode. The victim sustained an injury to the flesh of the mid-finger of his right hand. [However, the victim was the driver and as the blast emanated from the bottom of the mine it seems likely that he held it …

Ddasaccident209, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The team arrived in the area at 10:45. The man supposed to guide them did not arrive, but another person substituted. They drove along an unsurfaced track, then parked and walked on until they could see the remaining minefield marking of a previously cleared area on the other side of the track. They had walked about 15m off the track towards the suspect area before the victim (who was the Team Leader and third in line) stepped on a mine.

Displaced Children And Orphans Fund And War Victims Fund Activities In Sri Lanka, Usaid-Leahy

Global CWD Repository

The Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF),which is administered by the Office of Health and Nutrition of the Bureau for Global Programs, Field Support and Research, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is a special fund within the agency that provides assistance for special groups of vulnerable children. It operates under its own strategic objective which is “the protection, well-being and development of war-affected children, unaccompanied minors and orphans.” The Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF), initiated in 1988 by Senator Patrick J. Leahy, operates similarly to the DCOF. Its stated objective is “The functional reintegration of war victims into civil …

Evaluation Of The Actions Of Handicap International In Mozambique Under The Financing Of The European Commission, Finnconsult

Global CWD Repository

The purpose of this evaluation was to carry out an overall analysis of the impact of the financed actions and the performance of Handicap International in Mozambique in order to assure better quality of similar actions for future beneficiaries with respect to identification, design, relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of these actions. Close attention was to be paid to the evolution of the political and socio-economic context in Mozambique, as well as the evolution of the policies and approaches of various actors involved in the sector. Meeting with the direct beneficiaries was emphasised and the use of participatory methods strongly …

Evaluation Of The Vietnam Veterans Of America Foundation Orthotics Training Project For Vietnam, Usaid-Leahy

Global CWD Repository

VVAF has done a good job of establishing itself in the health care community in Vietnam. The deficiencies mentioned in this evaluation primarily pertain to the lack of supervision and training of orthotic technicians and physicians. VVAF is aware of the need to undertake a major overhaul of its Vietnam project in order to meet training obligations to the National Institute of Pediatrics and Bach Mai Hospitals. A focused effort should be undertaken over the next two years to enable Vietnamese personnel to develop the technical skills and leadership necessary to continue orthotic services when this grant ends.

Itf Enhancing Human Security Annual Report 1999, Itf-Enhancy Human Security

Global CWD Repository

ITF Annual Report 1999

Developing And Integrating A Lessons Learned Methodology For Humanitarian Mine Action, Cisr

Global CWD Repository

The demand for a centralized lessons learned database has made it clear that there is value in consolidating the experience derived from the numerous de-mining missions by a variety of teams in a variety of countries. Consequently, the James Madison University Mine Action Information Center developed a methodology for collecting, validating, and distributing lessons-learned within the mine action community.

In order to develop this lessons-learned system, individuals involved in the wide spectrum of activities (victim assistance, mine clearance, survey, mine awareness, etc.) and belonging to the myriad agencies (NGOs, military demining, United Nations, MACs, etc.) related to the field of …

Ddasaccident159, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

At the time of the accident, Victim No.1 was excavating a detector reading. Victim No.2 was the detector man and had paused on his return to the safe area because he felt unwell and so had not left the vicinity when the mine initiated. Victim No.1 was excavating with a "trowel" [a locally made excavating tool] (after prodding) when (at 10:40) he initiated a mine. He had been a deminer for 13 months.

Ddasaccident165, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

On the morning of the accident the victim was working as a prodder man on an upward incline of 30o. The detector man got a reading, marked it and called to the victim to investigate. As the victim was excavating he saw a white metal tube about the size of a finger but did not recognise what it was. He continued to prod around it and he initiated the mine with the tip of his prodder

Ddasaccident160, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The working area was on the Cambodian mid-level (as opposed to flood plain and mountainous area) so there was a lot of bamboo. The victim was the prodder man and was called by his partner to investigate the source of a detector reading near some bamboo. The victim knelt on the ground and prodded the area for a short time. At 11:05 he initiated a mine and fell back into the cleared area.

Ddasaccident320, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

A Trainee Supervisor was trying to explain the operation of the Type-72a mine to some of his colleagues in a “self initiated” lecture. The Trainee Supervisor “tried to force open the mine whilst explaining the function mechanism” and “initiated the detonator”, suffering a minor injury to one finger.