Non-combat risk of being in the military highlighted by fatal training accident at CFB Wainwright

The death Wednesday of army Lt.-Col. Dan Bobbitt in an armoured vehicle rollover during a training exercise underscores the fact that the risks our soldiers take aren't all from enemy fire.

“This accident is a painful reminder of how Canadian Armed Forces members put their lives on the line every day in the defence of Canada, whether it be in theatre or training here at home," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement Wednesday night.

In many ways, the armed forces are like any other industry where people can die or be injured in a variety of ways. In fact, enemy action has accounted for far fewer deaths among military personnel than accidents in the last few decades.

By the numbers

A 2013 chart of statistics compiled by National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces shows that that during Canada's Afghan mission, 20 military personnel died in non-combat situations, including traffic accidents and accidental discharge of weapons, from 2002 to 2012, compared with 138 killed in action. Another 1,436 suffered non-battle injuries, compared with 635 wounded in combat.

In Canada's peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, all but one of the 23 deaths were due to accidents, including armoured-vehicle rollovers on former Yugoslavia's narrow mountain roads.

[ Related: Soldier killed in armoured vehicle rollover at Alberta base ]

According to a recent study of work-related injuries by the Employment and Social Development Canada, construction remains the most dangerous industry at 24.5 injuries per 1,000 employed workers. But public administration and defence (which presumably includes police officers) ranks fifth out of 16 broad categories at 19.9 per thousand.

A 2010 academic paper on preventing deaths in the Canadian military pointed out that while public attention naturally focuses on combat deaths, most armed forces personnel die from other causes.

Motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause of death in the study's survey period 1983-2007, accounting for 384 fatalities or 22 per cent of the 1,889 total deaths. The study found another 92 deaths were due to aircraft crashes and six from accidental firearms discharges.

"Combat deaths accounted for less than five per cent of all deaths (70)," the study found.

The study said that while seatbelt usage is mandatory in military vehicles (just like it is for their civilian counterparts), officers need to do a better job of enforcing the rules.

An accident waiting to happen

Since Wednesday's fatal accident, which injured four other soldiers, fingers have been pointed at the LAV III light armoured vehicle they were using during the training exercise at CFB Wainwright.

The Globe and Mail noted the LAV III has been involved in more than a dozen rollovers since being introduced in 1999, including several in Afghanistan that killed five soldiers.

The armed forces has begun a $1-billion upgrade to improve the vehicle's stability, the Globe said. It's supposed to be completed by 2017.

How risky is being in the military?

Despite the evident risks of being in the military, a 2011 study found that men and women in the armed forces actually have a 35 per cent lower risk of death compared with the general Canadian population.

The Canadian Forces Cancer and Mortality Study tracked thousands of serving and former military personnel between 1972 and 2006. Among other things, it found the study group had a significantly lower risk of dying from injury, cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases than Canadians generally.

The suicide rate also was not significantly different from the general Canadian rate, though the study did flag the risk of death from unintentional injury among young female soldiers, as well as the significantly higher suicide rate among women aged 40-44.

[ Related: Canadian death toll in Afghan mission: 158 soldiers, four civilians ]

Col. Colin MacKay, who co-chaired the study's advisory committee, told the National Post the generally lower death risk was attributable to the fact you need to pass certain physical and medical standards to join the military, "so we're generally a healthy population to start with."

“It’s hard to say whether that full 35 per cent reduction in risk for mortality for all causes is attributable to the healthy worker effect," said MacKay, who was also director of Force Health Protection.

"There may still be some effect from the culture within the Canadian Forces, where we try to promote health and physical fitness.”