Tri-Service Policy: prevention and management
of suicide and deliberate self-harm
DGTE
1. We have initiated tri-Service work to
update the guidance and procedures on the prevention and management
of suicide and deliberate self-harm. This work will cover prevention,
screening, reporting, data collection, training and education.
2. We try to identify specifically all individuals,
on recruitment, who have a record of self-harm, particularly within
the past three years. We do this in two ways; through the medical
records that we obtain from each individual's family GP to bring
them into the Services medical system, and/or through an individual's
own admission on their initial medical questionnaire.
3. The Services are committed to reducing
the incidence of both suicide and self-harm. Commanders, at all
levels, play an important role in getting to know their people
sufficiently well to identify any danger signs, and awareness
training is provided on a range of courses, including those for
Commanding Officers' designate, Regimental Administrative Officers
and Unit Welfare Officers. Awareness leaflets and training are
given to all officers and NCOs. For junior personnel, and in line
with research that shows that awareness training can be sometimes
be counterproductive for them, we focus more on such themes as
looking out for each other and team cohesion.
4. A Confidential Support Line was established
in December 1997 that provides a fully trained, confidential,
independent and non-judgemental listening and support service
to Army personnel and their families. This service was extended,
in April 2003, to cover the Royal Navy and Royal Marines as well.
5. The Army has a wide-ranging welfare support
network available to soldiers and the Army Welfare Service also
run a telephone support line, should soldiers wish to discuss
any concerns in anonymity. All of these facilities and organisations,
plus other welfare support services, such as Padres, Army Welfare
Services, WRVS, etc are widely publicised throughout the Army
community.
ARMY
1. The policy on protecting Army recruits
under initial training is promulgated in the ATRA Handbook. Compliance
with this policy is monitored through the use of the Commander's
Report (see Annex G), which must be completed and sent to HQ ATRA
as part of the Operating Division Commander's 2nd and 4th Quarter
Reports. See also Question 28. The Handbook is available to all
staff and is distributed through the ATRA's Intranet Website.
It contains the following directions in relation to protecting
trainees from harm:
2. Prevention of Suicide. Statistically
young people between the ages of 16 and 20 are those most at risk
of suicide and soldiers are at their most vulnerable in their
first few years of service. It follows that commanders and staff
in ATRA must be particularly vigilant and do all they can to identify
those at risk and prevent suicide. All permanent staff are to
read the booklet "Suicide Prevention A Commanders Guide"
(hard copies of this pamphlet will be made available to the HCDC).[11]
Bullying and Harassment. HQ ATRA maintains
the Army policy of zero tolerance to bullying and harassment.
The ATRA handbook explains the policy and that all allegations
or reports of mistreatment have to be reported. An explanation
of what is considered to be bullying and harassment is included
in the "Conduct & Behaviour" section as follows:
Bullying and Harassment are forms of unfair treatment
that are unacceptable in ATRA. It is the duty of commanders at
every level to try to prevent such unfair treatment happening
or report it if it does. All recruits and trainees are to be given
the booklet Basically Fair—Equality and Diversity in the
British Army and have the complaints procedure explained to them.
Bullying. Bullying creates an environment in
which a group or an individual may become fearful or intimidated
because of the negative or hostile behaviour of another group
of people or an individual. It often (but not always) involves
a misuse of power or position. It is usually persistent, often
unpredictable and may be vindictive, cruel or malicious. Some
typical examples of bullying are:
(a) Verbal abuse, such as swearing at trainees
or staff either in public or private.
(b) Belittling or ridiculing a person, or his/her
abilities, either in private or in front of others.
(c) Spreading malicious rumours about someone.
(d) Sudden rages or displays of temper against
an individual or group, often for trivial reasons.
(e) Subjecting someone to unnecessarily excessive
or oppressive supervision, monitoring everything they do or being
excessively critical of minor things.
(f) Persistent and unjustified criticism.
(g) Making threats or inappropriate comments
about prospects, failure, or course reports.
Harassment. Harassment can be defined as unwanted
behaviour by one individual, whether intentional or not, that
creates feelings of anxiety, humiliation, awkwardness, distress
or discomfort in another. It can have devastating consequences
for the individual concerned. Some typical examples of harassment
are:
(a) Verbal or physical threats or abuse, including
derogatory or stereotypical statements or remarks.
(b) Innuendo, mockery, lewd or sexist/racist
jokes or remarks.
(c) Personal comments about a person's physical
appearance or character which cause embarrassment or distress.
(d) Leering, rude gestures, touching, grabbing,
patting or other unnecessary bodily contact such as brushing up
against others.
(e) Unwarranted, intrusive or persistent questioning
about a person's marital status, personal life, sexual interests
or orientation, or similar questions about a person's racial or
ethnic origin, including their culture or religion.
Empowered Officer. Every recruit and
trainee is to have access to an officer or Warrant Officer, outside
their immediate chain of command, with whom they can discuss in
safety any perceived unfair treatment. That officer or WO must
have direct access to the Commanding Officer and have attended
the Unit Welfare Officers' Course. All recruits and trainees are
to be informed who their empowered officer is and briefed how
they can be contacted including their direct phone number.
Welfare. The Army has a wide-ranging
welfare support network to soldiers, and a Confidential Support
Line should soldiers wish to discuss their concerns in anonymity.
The Confidential Support Line and welfare support services are
widely publicised throughout the Army community in barrack blocks
and clubs. In addition, all recruits are issued with a card upon
which are included relevant contact telephone numbers for their
Unit Welfare Officer and Padre, plus the WRVS, Army Welfare Service
and the Samaritans.
RAF
The RAF operates a policy of "Zero Tolerance"
and has put in place complaints procedures for dealing with unlawful
or inappropriate behaviour. This, however, is not specific to
the training environment and is operated pan-RAF. In the context
of the HCDC Inquiry, RAF initiatives or policies introduced since
1996 are as follows:
— RAF EO complaints procedures introduced
in 1996—submission through line manager and subsequent Redress
of Complaint if dissatisfied with outcome; complaints procedures
revised in May 1999; formal complaints direct to unit EO Adviser
and treated as Redress of Complaint—procedures incorporated
in AP3392 Vol 4 Leaflets 1803 and 1805 and summarised in RAF Harassment
and Bullying booklet first issued RAF-wide in July 1997 (5th edition
to be issued later this year).
— Formal complaints of discrimination,
harassment and bullying monitored and reported quarterly to HQs
and Centre (to AOCs since April 2003) and annually to the AFB
(and Commission for Racial Equality) since September 1996.
— Full programme of Equal Opportunities
(EO) Awareness workshops (delivered by EO Focus Group) from June
1997 until December 1999—mandatory equality and diversity
training from Aprril 2000—training targets introduced in
RAF EO Action Plan 2000-01 (HQs and units required to produce
subordinate annual action plans); EO Awareness Training modules
in IOT/RT and career development courses introduced between January
1998 and July 2000.
— Harassment Helpline introduced in
December 1997—operational hours extended from normal officer
hours to 0830—2200 in December 2002.
— EO Inquiry Team formed in April 1999.
— Zero Tolerance publicised by issue
of Harassment posters and Zero Tolerance Cards in June 1999 (which
included details Harassment Helpline)—further publicity
campaign with revised posters and Harassment & Bullying booklet
in September 2003.
— The RAF Diversity Strategy Group
(DSG) was formed in April 2002 to develop strategic policy; the
executive arm of the DSG is the Diversity Implementation Group,
which pulls together policy, recruiting, training, Command Casework,
legal, chaplaincy and Air Cadets staff to provide a co-ordinated
approach to evaluating the effectiveness of and implementing RAF
equality and diversity policies.
All the above initiatives/policies are also
disseminated either through the network of unit EO Advisers, Commanding
Officers and/or regular Newsletters. Additionally, the MoD has
legal obligations, primarily:
— A common law duty of care is placed
on the MoD and its line managers to take reasonable care in the
provision of a safe system and place of work (including equipment)
and, as such, to undertake risk assessments to determine the extent
of the duty of care and necessary measures to protect the individual
concerned. If an individual is unable to cope with the training
then appropriate assistance and instruction must be given to him
and, if necessary, discharge the airman if he is unable to cope.
— Similar duties are included in the
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and there is a potential for
an HSE investigation/prosecution. The MoD is exempt from enforcement
action under the HSWA but Crown notices can be issued. An individual
in a position of responsibility with ability to change unsafe
systems could be open to prosecution eg commanding officers.
— Infliction of self-harm by reason
of unlawful discrimination (sex, race, sexual orientation, and
gender reassignment) could amount to direct discrimination.
Policy documents range from the high-level Government,
Department and Service policies noted above, through Agency and
Command instructions and directives to Unit orders and Commanders'
directions. Individual documents have not, therefore, been included
with this response, but can be provided if necessary.
Effectiveness of the policies and their implementation
is assessed by a mixture of internal and external audits and inspections,
combined with regular reviews at unit and HQ level of unit returns
concerning self-harm, bullying, harassment etc.
NAVY
Tri-Service policies on Supervision of Trainees
and Corrective Training have been drawn up by Director General
Training and Education (DGTE) in consultation with the training
establishments and legal advisors from all three Services. Both
the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines implement these policies
without interpretation or adjustment. Policy is disseminated from
DGTE, through Flag Officer Training and Recruiting (FOTR) and
on to the training establishments. The Naval Service Working Group
exists to promote implementation of the policy and address any
queries. Book of Reference (BR) 8420 states that: "Training
Organisations must carry out a Health and Safety risk assessment
of the Training Environment and all Training Activities. This
assessment is to be documented, maintained as a quality record
and also recorded in the training documentation." Adherence
to this mandate is monitored through internal audits and biennial
second party audits.
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