Senior officer urges less spending on CCTV cameras, more on people

The police are failing to use CCTV to catch as many criminals as they could, a senior officer has told the BBC. Det Ch Insp Mick Neville of the Met police's CCTV unit said most forces do not have systems to retrieve, process and distribute CCTV crime scene images. DCI Neville told the BBC's The World At One and Newsnight that, while his own force had made errors, the picture for the rest of the country "isn't good". "Because we had CCTV first, we made all the mistakes", he said. DCI Neville stated that the mistake was that the money was spent on kit instead of people and processes. He added, "Unless there is a systematic way of gathering CCTV then it will continue not to be as effective as it could be. What I would say, is we've got enough cameras, let's stop now, we don't want any more cameras. Let's invest that money that's available and use it for the training of people, and the processes to make sure whatever we've captured is effectively used." Source: BBC, 20 July 2009. tinyurl.com/m2ksk9

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Do social netwoking sites deliberately exploit poor privacy usability?

Bruce Schneier, BT's chief security technology officer, discusses "privacy salience" in The Guardian. Leslie John, Alessandro Acquisti, and George Loewenstein at Carnegie Mellon University demonstrated in a series of experiments that reassuring people about privacy makes them more, not less, concerned. In experimental online surveys, when privacy issues were made salient, people reacted negatively to the subsequent confidentiality assurance and were less likely to reveal personal information.

Schneier argues that this phenomenon does a lot to explain how social networking sites think about privacy. "From a business perspective, social networking sites don't want their members to exercise their privacy rights very much. They want members to be comfortable disclosing a lot of data about themselves."

Joseph Bonneau and Soeren Preibusch of Cambridge University have studied privacy on 45 social networking sites and found that privacy settings were often confusing and hard to access. Facebook was the worst. Privacy tends to increase with the age and popularity of a site. General-use sites tend to have more privacy features than niche sites. The researchers found that sites consistently hide privacy details, while promoting promote the benefits of disclosing personal data.

A two-track marketing strategy seems to obscure privacy issues from the general user, but reassure 'privacy fundamentalists'. "The marketing need to reduce privacy salience will frustrate market solutions to improve privacy; sites would much rather obfuscate the issue than compete on it as a feature", says Schneier. Source: Guardian, 15 July 2009. tinyurl.com/ml7kv4

Spent: dehumanised work and chronic fatigue

Journalist and author William Leith explores hidden problems with living in a 24-hour world in an article in The Guardian. Leith interviews Kate, a 36-year-old counsellor who is "drained beyond belief", and Greg, a man in his 40s "crushed with tiredness". Both suffered series' of viral attacks and subsequent sleep and fatigue problems.

Leith discusses a number of books on the consequences of modern life in the Western world, and speaks to Dr Frank Lipman, a South African doctor working in New York who argues that the total amount of physical, psychological and environmental stress on a person's body in the developed world has quadrupled in the past 30 years. "My philosophy," Lipman tells Leith, "is that we are out of sync with our body rhythms. We're also overfed and undernourished with food, and undernourished when it comes to light."

"We get spent," writes Lipman, "because our modern lifestyle has removed us from nature and we have become divorced from its rhythms and cycles. We are slaves to the corporate model," he says. "I think it is going to get worse and worse - and I don't see any improvement in the near future until we reach some kind of tipping point and wake up." Source: Guardian, 12 July 2009. tinyurl.com/nkafxd

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Travelators actually slow you down

Research published in the New Scientist reveals that using the travelator at airports, especially at busy times, can actually slow you down. The study by Manoj Srinivasan of Princeton University confirms previous research by Dr Seth Young of Ohio State University, which found that, when using a travelator, people reduce their walking pace and cause blockages. "Moving walkways are the only form of transportation that actually slow people down," said Dr Young.

Srinivasan's work suggests that the eye picks up that you are going faster than normal 'leg speed’ and so slows you down to a more comfortable speed - which is only slightly greater than it would have been on regular ground. But the odds are that other travellers will block the way - so on average it takes longer to get from A to B.

The Telegraph reports that travelators have come under fire recently for causing a wave of injuries. In 2006, London Underground estimated they were the most common cause of accidents across the network, and reported 933 injuries from their use. Source: Telegraph, 16 July 2009. tinyurl.com/l24wpl

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Facebook sorts out privacy mess

Following many privacy bungles, Facebook is overhauling its complicated privacy controls to simplify its users' ability to control which information they share with their friends, family, colleagues and strangers. Facebook is consolidating its existing six privacy pages and more than 30 settings onto a single privacy page with standardised privacy options for various pieces of content. Previously, users had to navigate page after page to exclude bosses or co-workers from seeing their photo albums, status updates or shared links. One of Facebook's most notable privacy mishaps was a tracking tool called "Beacon," which broadcast information about their activities at other Web sites. "They are learning how to listen carefully to their users," said Jules Polonetsky, co-chairman and director of the Washington-based Future of Privacy Forum and former chief privacy officer at AOL. He added that Facebook has learned from the past that suddenly making big changes, whatever they are, has not been the most effective approach. The site is also getting rid of its regional networks, which have led to users inadvertently sharing information with network members in an entire city or country. Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 2 July 2009. tinyurl.com/nxyazl

Report highlights Chicago air traffic controller fatigue

Air traffic controllers at Chicago O'Hare International Airport have too little time off between shifts, according to a federal audit released Thursday. The report by the U.S. Department of Transportation criticised the Federal Aviation Administration for not acting sooner to alleviate air traffic controller fatigue at three of the country's busiest air traffic control facilities and recommended immediate changes. The audit showed most controllers at the three Chicago ATC facilities have had fewer than 10 hours rest between some shifts, progressively earlier start times on consecutive shifts and increased overtime hours. "This type of work schedule offers minimal opportunity for sleep when the time required for commuting, eating and other necessary daily activities is taken into account," the report said. The report stated that the FAA has failed to act on earlier National Transportation Safety Board recommendations on controller fatigue and that the agency "does not consistently address human factors issues, such as fatigue and situational awareness" in incident investigations. Source: Associated Press, 2 July 2009. tinyurl.com/neesfg

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Public safety signs "ugly, patronising and bossy"

A collection of photographs of safety signs around the UK has been taken and compiled in a book called "Attention please" by The Manifesto Club, a London-based libertarian campaign group. The signs highlight a plethora of 'hazards' such as uneven beach surfaces, the potential of cemetery memorials to harm and the need to use escalators safely. A double-decker bus, it is claimed, displays 24 separate cautions. According to The Telegraph, the convenor of the Manifesto Club Josie Appleton said: "This collection of cones, safety tape and caution notices, which hang like Christmas decorations off the urban architecture, provides no useful information about hazards. Instead they are only an excuse to regulate public behaviour." Rather than effectively highlighting hazards, the safety signs are "swamping public space" and "ugly, patronising and bossy", says Appleton. Source: Telegraph, 2 July 2009. tinyurl.com/luo4he

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Naked safety video aims to get attention

Human factors research has shown that passengers often fail to watch airline safety demonstrations because they feel they have seen them before. Well, Air New Zealand have a video that is unlikely to have the same turn-off effect, featuring a pilot and cabin crew dressed only in body paint made to resemble their normal uniforms. The video is upbeat and perky, with crews' private parts obscured by carefully positioned oxygen masks, life jackets, seat belts and luggage. According to the Telegraph, the "Bare essentials of safety" clip and a similar television advertisement introduced six weeks ago, have had passengers glued to their mini television sets. A copy of the au naturel briefing has been posted on YouTube, attracting over 3.8 million hits to date. It would be interesting to see the retention rate and emergency performance among flyers, compared to that of flyers after viewing a more staid production. Source: Telegraph, 2 July 2009. tinyurl.com/kuoc4k

Human factors 'emerge as trend' in air crashes

Reuters report that Bill Voss, president of the U.S.-based Flight Safety Foundation, has stated that "human factors are emerging as a worrisome trend in global air crashes and other incidents as fatigue, complex flight systems, inconsistent training and regulation pose new challenges to airlines". Voss reportedly told industry and government officials that 2009 could be the worst year in a decade for major commercial aviation accidents. There have been 12 crashes this year through June and carriers globally are on pace to equal the 10-year high of 24 crashes in 1999, according to safety foundation figures. "We've seen an increase in loss of control," Voss said of reported in-flight mishaps linked to turbulence or other unexpected situations that usually do not result in crashes. "We're back in the human factors business," according to Voss. Source: Reuters, 30 June 2009. tinyurl.com/nb255j

Washington Metro crash highlights automation paradox

A collision on the Washington Metro on 22 June killed nine people and injured 76. According to The Washington Post, early indications suggest a computer system may have malfunctioned, and various accounts have raised questions about whether the driver of the speeding train applied the brakes in time. Investigations often focus attention on discrete aspects of machine or human error, whereas the real problem tends to lie in the relationship between humans and their automated systems. "It is easy to focus on the last act that may or may not have prevented the collision," said John D. Lee, professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin. "But you can trace the accident back to purchasing decisions, maintenance decisions and track layout. To lay the blame on the end result of when and how quickly someone activated the brake may not help with improving safety." Lee pointed out that making automated systems safer leads to a paradox at the heart of all human-machine interactions: "The better you make the automation, the more difficult it is to guard against these catastrophic failures in the future, because the automation becomes more and more powerful, and you rely on it more and more." John Lee is joined by Greg Jamieson and Raja Parasuraman later in the article to acknowledge the consensus that automated systems should be designed to enhance human performance rather than to supplant operators or make them complacent. Source: Washington Post, 29 June 2009. tinyurl.com/lghtq9

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No cure for IVF errors

The chairman of the British Fertility Society has warned that IVF mix-ups, in which women are given someone else's embryo, will continue to happen. Recently a couple were told that their last frozen embryo had been mistakenly implanted into another patient. The woman went on to have a termination after being was told that she had been inseminated with a child that was not her own. A trainee embryologist was said to have taken the embryo from the wrong shelf at the IVF clinic, based at the University Hospital of Wales. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) already requires a system of "double witnessing" in which staff check and document each other's work, to reduce the risk of such mistakes. But the case has led to calls that embryos should be electronically "tagged" to prevent mix-ups ever happening again. Mr Rutherford said: "Everybody working in this field wants to avoid a mix up... but we do live in the real world and unfortunately when humans are involved there will be mistakes. But the risks are incredibly small". According to the Telegraph, some centres are reportedly experimenting with an electronic system, involving bar codes and alarms, to replace "double witnessing". But Mr Rutherford said that there were no guarantees that they would be any more successful than the current system. Source: Telegraph, 26 June 2009. tinyurl.com/km2uov

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Science writer Dr Simon Singh appeals against chiropractic libel judgement

The Guardian reports on a legal case with significant implications for science journalism and claims made by healthcare practitioners. Dr Simon Singh, a leading science writer who is being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA), is taking his case to the Court of Appeal after a preliminary judgement went against him. In the original Guardian article, Singh criticised the BCA for claiming that its members could use spinal manipulation to treat children with colic, ear infections, asthma, sleeping and feeding conditions, and prolonged crying. Singh described the treatments as "bogus" and based on insufficient evidence, and criticised the BCA for "happily promoting" them. According to The Guardian, the BCA denied these criticisms and maintained that the efficacy of chiropractic treatments is well documented. At a preliminary hearing in May to decide the meaning of the article, Mr Justice Eady ruled that Singh's wording implied that the BCA was being consciously dishonest, an interpretation denied by Singh. Singh is appealing the ruling, and will take the case to the European courts if the appeal fails. The case has led to a campaign to raise awareness of English libel laws, which critics claim can stifle legitimate and open debate about scientific and health issues. A summary of articles on the issue is contained on Singh's Sense about Science website. Source: Guardian, 4 June 2009. tinyurl.com/op6och

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Right ear better for hearing

Italian researchers have found in three separate tests that people are better at processing information when requests were made to their right ear. They believe this is because the left side of the brain, which is better at processing requests, deals with information from the right ear. The findings are reported online in the journal Naturwissenschaften. In conclusion, the researchers said: "Talk into the right ear you send your words into a slightly more amenable part of the brain. These results seem to be consistent with the hypothesised specialisation of right and left hemispheres." Professor Sophie Scott, of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, agreed, and noted "we can also see this tendency when people use the phone, most will naturally hold it to their right ear." The research may have implications for the presentation of auditory information. Source: BBC, 24 June 2009. tinyurl.com/ksu9on
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Anti-stab knife soon to go on sale

The first "anti-stab" knife will soon go on sale in Britain, designed to work as normal in the kitchen, but be less effective as a weapon. The knife has a unique "combination tip" with a rounded edge instead of a point and the blade for cutting is underneath. The tip can chop vegetables, but makes penetration more difficult, instead snagging on clothing and skin. An ergonomic handle also reduces the aggressiveness of the knife. Doctors have lobbied in the past for kitchen knives to be redesigned. They argue that while a redesign is not a complete solution to the complex problem of knife crime, it could help to save lives. The New Point knife has been developed by industrial designer John Cornock, who was inspired to create the product after watching a documentary on knife crime. It has taken four years to develop. Source: BBC, 15 June 2009. tinyurl.com/nm3c7f

Qantas A380 economy seat wins design award

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Qantas's A380 economy seat has won the 2009 Australian International Design Award of the Year, with judges saying the Marc Newson-designed seat cannot be faulted. The seat topped the six criteria: innovation, visual and emotional appeal, functionality, quality and manufacture, human factors (including ergonomics, safety and semantics) and environmental sustainability. Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 13 June 2009. tinyurl.com/okwqcc

A media release by Standards Australia noted that the judges were particularly impressed with the level of innovation and attention to detail given to all aspects of the seat. The design process clearly considered all features from the materials and aesthetics right through to the revolutionary footrest net, recline space and user interface of the entertainment unit. The environmental aspects of flying were also considered with lightweight carbon fibre selected to help reduce weight. Source: Standards Australia, 29 May 2009. tinyurl.com/7fmrzf

From input error to near disaster at Melbourne airport

An Emirates flight EK-407 from Melbourne to Dubai narrowly avoided disaster, with 275 people on the Airbus jet. On the flight deck, the first officer and the captain fed routine information, including the plane's weight and fuel load, into a computer. The procedure was for them to check each other's work to avoid mistakes. The first officer opened the throttles and headed down runway. As the first officer tried to ease the aircraft off the runway, the jet stayed grounded. On a second attempt, the nose came up — but the jet's rear repeatedly hit and dragged along runway, puncturing the skin of the jet, tearing off a panel and breaching the air pressurisation. Eventually, at the end of the runway, the jet began climbing. But it was still too low, hitting a runway light, then antenna equipment on the ground, and scraping the grass. With seconds to spare, the jet climbed and finally reached a safe height. The pilots dumped most of their fuel over the bay and, with smoke in the cabin, the plane was given emergency clearance to land. When the pilots checked their instruments they spotted the potentially fatal mistake. Before take-off, their fuelled-up jet weighed 362 tonnes. But they had accidentally keyed in 262 tonnes, resulting in too little engine power. Only the captain's rapid reactions averted a disaster. Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 01 May 2009. tinyurl.com/kjd3r2
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/storm-crypt/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Five million days lost to Repetitive Surf Injury in Britain

More than five million days a year are lost to business as a result of workers injuring themselves through surfing the internet. "Repetitive Surf Injury" (RSI), which is thought to affect more than half a million workers in the UK, is being blamed for a surge in the number of people suffering painful muscle damage as they spend hours hunched over keyboards, balancing laptops on their knees or continually texting on mobile devices. Iain Thompson, the general manager of Yahoo! Finance Europe, said: "RSI-type conditions have been estimated to cost industry of up to £20 billion a year. Yahoo! has teamed up with the British Chiropractic Association to help internet users avoid RSI. Source: Telegraph, 02 May 2009. tinyurl.com/dky4uj

Passengers unhappy with poor design

Cramped, poorly designed lavatories and a lack of luggage space on long-distance trains are biggest source of passenger discontent, a survey by Passenger Focus has found. The study investigated passengers' experience of nine existing long distance rail operators. It comes as industry awaits delivery of the next generation of carriages to replace the ageing Inter City fleet. The survey found that nearly two out of three of passengers who used Virgin's Pendolino trains between London and Scotland were unhappy. Even though train lavatories were considered largely clean and well maintained, passengers were unhappy about their design, particularly small size, and the washing and drying facilities. There were also complaints about poor signage to the lavatories and the lack of instructions about how to lock the door. In some cases the poor design meant that the floors were wet. Passengers on South West Trains were particularly unhappy with the “cramped” vestibule area by the doors, with some passengers facing difficulties manoeuvring luggage and push chairs. Passengers were also unhappy with security, accessibility and amount of stowage space. Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said the findings should be taken into account when the detailed designs are put together for the new fleet of long distance carriages. Source: Telegraph, 06 May 2009. tinyurl.com/oqebdo

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Have you forgotten your memory stick?

A report into the loss of a memory stick containing data on 6,360 prisoners and ex-prisoners found – predictably – that human error and procedural violation was to blame. The USB stick was being used to back up clinical databases at HMP Preston and was lost on 30 December. The data lost was encrypted but, in a classic example of how IT security actually causes users to bypass defences, the password had been written on a note attached to the misplaced memory stick. Source: BBC, 17 April 2009. tinyurl.com/dl3ceu
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zlatanm/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

International Design Scoreboard ranks countries

The first International Design Scoreboard, which ranks countries by their design capabilities, sees the US top in absolute terms and UK fourth. When the size of the economy is taken to account, Singapore tops the table, with the UK dropping down to sixth and the US to 11th. The Scoreboard has been produced by a consortium of British universities led by the University of Cambridge and supported by the Design Council. It measures countries’ design capability based on a number of factors, including public investment in design, total number of design graduates, and number of World Intellectual Patent Office design registrations, and levels of employment in the design sector. Source: Design Week, 15 April 2009. http://tinyurl.com/c36ywv

Intensive care errors ‘frequent’

Errors in the administration of injected medication occur frequently in intensive care units, a study of 113 units across 27 countries suggests. Over a 24-hour period, 441 patients out of 1,300 were subject to errors, and seven suffered permanent harm. Nearly half of the affected patients suffered more than one mistake. The most frequent errors related to the wrong time of administration and missing doses. Stress, tiredness, recent changes in the drug’s name, poor communication, and protocol violations were cited as contributing factors. Lead researcher Dr Andreas Valentin recommended error reporting systems and routine checks at shift changes. The Intensive Care Society said many units had developed patient safety training programmes, including measures to learn from ‘near misses’. Work was also under way to standardise concentrations of some drugs for critically ill patients, refine the use of antibiotics and minimise the risk of adverse drug reactions. Source: BBC, 13 March 2009. http://tinyurl.com/b9cqz6

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Pedestrian crossings: Animal kwackers

Comedian Frank Skinner reports on the planned Tokyo-style ‘scramble crossing’ at Oxford Circus in The Times. According to Skinner, the crossings work in Japan and Canada because its inhabitants are, “extremely polite and civilised, so both crossings were a delight to use”. But in London, “It’ll only need a brushed elbow or a blocked step to spin the whole thing into a whirl of aggressive indignation”. In the 1960s, the Ministry of Transport developed ‘panda crossing’. Unlike its zebra-esque colleague, the panda road pattern took the form of triangles. It also had stop lights and a sign for pedestrians that said ‘CROSS’. However, it didn’t have a sign that said ‘DON’T CROSS’ because, quaintly, this would have contravened the existing right-of-way law. (The now defunct crossing used a coding mechanism based on flashing and pulsating amber phases which were subtle yet very significant.) Skinner laments the misuse of acronyms and lack of animal resemblance in this and other animal-inspired crossings, including the pelican crossing, puffin crossing, toucan crossing, and pegasus crossing. But “despite the DfT’s idiosyncrasies – maybe even because of them – I love pedestrian crossings. They seem to epitomise man’s struggle to tame technology”, says Skinner. Source: The Times, April 17 2009. http://tinyurl.com/czeahm

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“You’re always on your @#$&&$ computer!!!”

Microsoft’s Bill Buxton reflects that, in the pre-computer age, we had specific rooms in our homes for certain activities. Nowadays, for many everyday activities, social cues have disappeared as activities are centred around a single digital device. And this causes all kinds of trouble. So how can we redesign tools and technologies such that they encourage behaviours, and visibility of activity, that are consistent with our places and values? Buxton suggests extending the “persona” concept used in user-centred design with the notion of “placona”, the canonical set of physical and social spaces within which an activity might be situated. “If one of the purposes of design and innovation is to improve our lives – for business, artistic, or familial purposes – then design that does not consider the larger social, cultural, and physical ecosystem is going to miss the mark.” Source: Business Week. http://tinyurl.com/d78nud

Blame the user? Pah! Bypass the user!

Security is often a hindrance to users, and this means that it is often bypassed. Bruce Schneier, IT security guru, argues that "security systems that require the user to do the right thing are doomed to fail." The solution? Assume uneducated users: to prevent them from changing security settings that would leave them exposed to undue risk, or – even better – to take security out of their hands entirely. Source: Guardian. http://tinyurl.com/bcr7h8

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Trust in automation lands lorry in ditch

In another case of automation-induced complacency, a articulated lorry driver ended up in a ditch in the tuny Cotswald village of Syde. "Then they look at their sat-nav and potter off down these lanes, which are so narrow, and all of a sudden this happens," according to a local councillor. Gloucestershire County Council is running a trial scheme to ban HGVs from country lanes around the Cotswolds, including Syde. Source: Telegraph. http://tinyurl.com/detn3

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All sites may harm your computer

The world's dependency on Google was brought into focus on Saturday, 31 January when users were unable to access search results, as the entire internet was erroneously flagged as malware. For a period, all results brought with them the warning that the site "may harm your computer", and advice to choose another hit. "What happened? Very simply, human error," wrote Marissa Mayer, Google vice president search products and user experience, on the Official Google Blog. When Google updated the list on in conjunction with stopbadware.org, it mistakenly flagged all sites as potentially dangerous. Source: BBC. http://tinyurl.com/bm8ahx

When one letter makes a big difference

Traveller Samantha Lazzaris was planning a holiday in San José, Costa Rica, filled with yoga, meditation, hiking and voluntary work. She ended up in San Juan, Peurto Rico. Waiting outside the airport, she asked the taxi driver to take her to her hotel, giving him an address in San José, Costa Rica. “He looked in amazement, speechless,” she said. “Then [he] laughed and said, ‘This is not Costa Rica. It’s Puerto Rico’.”’ How did it happen? Apparently, the Bristol branch of Thomas Cook had entered the wrong code. Both similar sounding places, with even more similar sounding, and looking, codes - SJO (San José) and SJU (San Juan). To make matters worse, San Jose is also known as Juan Santamaria. According to The Times, tourists looking forward to a trip to San José had also found themselves in San José, California. La Paz, Bolivia gets confused with La Paz, Mexico, and Santiago in Chile gets confused with San Diego, in southern California. Source: Times, 11 February 2009. http://tinyurl.com/c83vou

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How to survive a plane crash

Two experts offer some tips. Ed Calea, Professor of mathematical modelling at the University of Greenwich in London: keep your footwear on during climb and descent; sit close to an exit; sit by the aisle; seat your family together; practise releasing your seat belt; know where the exit is; and practise the brace position. According to Amanda Ripley, author of 'The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – And Why': take the lead - don't just sit there; listen to the safety briefing; near the exit, take responsibility and prepare to throw the exit door out; educate yourself on why the safety procedures are life-saving; and realise accidents are survivable, and that what you do can make the difference - an active, engaged, confident outlook about your role in the situation is very powerful. Source: Guardian. http://tinyurl.com/bnewa2

Aviation safety still on course

The Turkish Airlines crash is thankfully a rare occurrence in Europe. The European Aviation and Safety Agency report three in 2007, and six in 2006, with a decade average of six fatal air accidents per year, against a trend of increasing traffic. Only five per cent of worldwide fatal air accidents involved European carriers last year. "Take a million flights and the likelihood of being involved in a fatal accident anywhere in the world is still just 0.79 per cent." Source: Times. http://tinyurl.com/d67tp6
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnw: / / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Safety issues cause one-third of deaths in Britain’s military

Ministry of Defence figures obtained by The Independent on Sunday reportedly reveal that nearly 800 service personnel have been killed over 10 years in accidents ranging from car crashes to electric shocks. According to IoS, MoD figures reveal that 201 members of the armed forces died in 2007. Eighty of these deaths were caused by accidents, 50 of them in land transport accidents. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 removes the MoD’s Crown immunity in health and safety matters, leaving senior defence officials open to the same risk of prosecution as employers in the private and public sectors. Source: Independent, 22 Feb 2009. http://tinyurl.com/c8hygw

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