Terms of Reference for Iroquois-related Reviews

Background

2 On the morning of 25 April 2010 a formation of three Iroquois helicopters departed RNZAF Base Ohakea to conduct a series of ANZAC Day flyovers in Wellington.  At about 0549 NZST Iroquois Black 2 impacted the terrain east of Pukerua Bay, fatally injuring 3 people on board.  A fourth crew member survived but was seriously injured.  The aircraft was destroyed.

3 The NZDF Court of Inquiry reported in December 2011 and made extensive recommendations regarding:

• Operating policy and procedures
• Training
• Capability i.e. capex / equipment
• Culture
• Areas for further investigation

4 The Minister of Defence is seeking assurance through the State Services Commissioner that NZDF has a robust plan to implement the recommendations of the Court of Inquiry, and good project management and reporting processes in order to deliver on the plan.

Scope of review

5 The scope of this review is to provide advice to the Minister through the State Services Commissioner about:

• The NZDF plan to implement the various recommendations
• NZDF’s progress to date against these recommendations
• The appropriate reporting framework and timing of reports of progress against the recommendations

6 In providing advice the following questions should be considered:

• What programme management arrangements are in place and do they best support the implementation of the recommendations?
• What progress has been made to implement the various recommendations?
• What recommendations can be implemented easily and quickly and which will be more difficult or take longer to fully implement and why? What are the realistic timeframes for implementation?
• What specific initiatives have been taken to address the recommendations around organisational culture and how will the effectiveness of implementation be measured over time?
• What are the appropriate progress reporting arrangements?

Issues not covered by the scope of this review

7 It is not intended that this review considers the roles and responsibilities of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) or other agencies in relation to accidents involving military aircraft.

Timeframe

8 The review is expected to take approximately 120 hours over a 6 week period with a draft of the report required to be available in the fourth week from the commencement date of the review.

Scope of review

4 The review will examine the arrangements for air and sea modes of military operation, and confirm the arrangements for the land mode, to ensure that the roles and responsibilities for HSE in the military context are clear and transparent and understood by all parties.

5 Consequently, this review will provide assurance to the Minister of State Services that State Sector agencies’ roles are sufficiently defined to allow effective management and investigation of all health and safety in employment issues which occur in a military context.

6 The review will:

• confirm the responsibilities of relevant agencies (under existing statute) for investigating military accidents, in particular the Iroquois ANZAC DAY Crash 2010, and managing health and safety in employment
• analyse if gaps exist, and
• consider whether any gaps can be addressed within existing statutory frameworks.

7 The deliverable will be advice to the Minister of State Services through the State Services Commissioner on any recommended changes to how HSE activity and accidents are managed and investigated.

Within scope

8 The review will consider:

• The role and functions of agencies in providing military HSE assurance, including which elements are designated or warranted under the HSE Act and the scope of any such designations. Designations may include both investigative and monitoring and enforcement activities
• Capability and capacity of agencies to undertake the HSE functions for military activity including the level of technical expertise that is realistically required to undertake investigations
• Military non-combat accidents occurring on land, sea and air. This is based on the similarity of investigation processes across modes, translation of HSE issues across modes and the desirability of maintaining a joined-up NZDF approach
• Accidents and military activities that occur with New Zealand and New Zealand’s territorial waters
• Members of the armed forces and members of the NZDF civilian staff
• Training and business-as-usual aspects of military activity and employment. This will be based around the wording of the HSE Act to ensure health and safety “as far as reasonably practicable”
• Access of civilian investigators to NZDF premises and information
• Existing Memoranda of Understanding between agencies

Outside of scope

9 The review will not consider:

• Military activities and accidents occurring overseas. It is unclear what jurisdiction the HSE Act has outside of New Zealand’s territory
• Accidents occurring in combat
• What remedies or penalties could apply following an HSE investigation

• Crown Law opinion on scope and enforcement of HSE Act - accidents involving military aircraft and other relevant advice from Crown law
• Summary Report of the Ministry of Transport's Review of Transport Accident and Incident Investigations 2003
• The NZDF Court of Inquiry report into the ANZAC Day 2010 Iroquois helicopter crash - December 2011
• Terms of Reference for the IQA of NZDF's actions responding to the Court of Inquiry into the ANZAC Day 2010 Iroquois helicopter crash
• Other relevant Court of Inquiry reports
• Department of Labour Cabinet paper (2003) recommending the designation of CAA and MNZ under the HSE Act.
• Memoranda of Understanding and other operating agreements between relevant agencies

Timeframe

13 The review is expected to take approximately six weeks to complete.