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Education: the dangers of "blinds"
10 April 2007
Chief of Army has recently endorsed a three series poster campaign to highlight the dangers of blind ammunition; it is potentially lethal and must be reported and destroyed. The posters place an emphasis on the message of DON’T TOUCH and that every soldier, NCO and Officer has a responsibility to report blinds when they are found.
The vast majority of ammunition used by the Army has one purpose: it is designed to kill. Training ammunition such as thunderflashes, can result in serious burns and hearing damage if they are not handled correctly. Every effort is made to ensure quality products are purchased, but ammunition can fail for a variety of reasons: incorrect preparation, soft or graze impact and a mechanical failure.
What is a blind? It is an item of ammunition, when projected at, or placed upon a target, it fails to function completely at the point of delivery or placement. Any blind ammunition must be regarded as dangerous for as long as it remains in existence.
Do not move it! It is not always easy to determine what safety arrangements have been removed through firing a piece of ammunition. Every item of ammunition that fails to function should be treated with extreme care, and not moved. The simple act of moving a blind item of ammunition could release a safety mechanism and initiate the ammunition. Some items may break up on impact which makes the identification of hazardous items extremely difficult, with the potential to confuse harmless range produce with potentially armed and lethal components.
In some cases, our training areas contain legacy blinds, including blinds from visiting forces. At Waiouru and Tekapo training areas, buried blinds may rise to the surface through frost, and while an area may be clear of surface blinds one year, the next year they may re-surface.
We can not be complacent in our vigilance for the presence of blinds.
This page was last reviewed on 30 April 2007 and is current.
