Since taking this website down I have had numerous requests for continued access to the records. To avoid sending out multiple CDs, the site has been restored. Anyone wishing to take over the maintenance and updating of this database should show that they have the means to do so, whereupon I will happily cede it to them. Write to me at avs(at)nolandmines.com. Anyone wanting the full record of any accident, which does include names and identifiers, should ask for access.
The recording of accidents in Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) has been
formally taken over by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GIHAD) acting on behalf of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS). They have decided to restart the collection of records, and to only collect summarised tick-box data. This "ticks the box" over a need to collect accident data in order to appear professional but is a bureaucratic nonsense that will be of no help to the HMA industry.
It will be years before they have enough data to draw any conclusions and those conclusions
will rely on the ability of a clerk to select the right "tick-box" from a limited choice. The result will be
"conclusions" that are ill-informed and easy to manipulate. A secondary result will be more accidents amongst deminers. I am truly sorry about this.
In my opinion, this demonstrates GIHAD and UNMAS' lack of concern for people at the sharp end of demining. It is just one example of the way that these organisations are currently failing to provide a meaningful lead in Mine Action as part of post-conflict peace-building. They are self-serving bureaucracies so this should not be a surprise, but I cannot help resenting their pretence at "expertise". I encourage donors with a genuine concern to reduce the impact of post-conflict explosive remnants of war to avoid funding these bureaucracies. Please fund those working in the field directly and consider making the recording and sharing of accident investigations a condition of all future funding.
2011 update, including Records by year, since 2005
Most databases contain summaries of data that has either been simplified or manipulated (or both). In my experience, the worst data is recorded as a tick-box summary made by a clerk who does not understand the material being summarised. In Humanitarian demining, the IMSMA accident records are an example of saving simplified and incomplete data for no apparent purpose other than to say that a record has been made. No one has ever been able to rely on IMSMA data to draw reliable and informed conclusions about accidents.
The Database of Demining Accidents is older than IMSMA. Whenever possible, it contains the original accident reports, photographs, statements and documents related to each accident. This website gives you access to the complete records in separately compiled "Reports". The only data excluded are the names of Victims, Demining agencies and the investigators involved. Although each record has a search-summary at the start, these records include the original reports, (including errors and inconsistencies expressed in the investigator's own words) so that you do not have to rely on a summary. Each record ends with a brief "Analysis". This is intended to put the record in context and explain the "causes" that have been noted for the accident.
Accurate accident records should be kept in order to study them and learn how to avoid making the same mistakes in future. The fact that the most common causes of accidents recur repeatedly implies that lessons are not learned and that many demining professionals would gain from studying accident data. Some of the more obvious lessons that can be derived are apparent in the training section of this site.
Unfortunately, you cannot search this database for common features. The database software has just been rewritten in Sequel Server, which means it can be ported for on-line searches if there is funding support to do that. Meantime, email me at avs(at)nolandmines.com if you have a search you want made, or any other questions. If you want the details of a particular accident, tell me what you know and I will try to find it for you.
Click here to open a sample Accident report.
