More people could die as a result of unmarked, unexploded ammunition in the training area at the Waiouru Military Camp in the central North Island, the Defence Force says.
However, the risk could be minimised if Defence personnel followed the correct procedures, said Brigadier Dave Gawn, who assembled the court of inquiry into the death of Flight Sergeant Andrew Forster.
The 46-year-old father-of-three was killed instantly when an artillery shell he was marking in the training area exploded in November.
Brig Gawn said the investigation was unable to determine why the device exploded, but F/S Forster had not followed all standard procedures when dealing with the device and it was likely he had caused the explosion.
"It shows that, irrespective of our training, irrespective of our experience, we are human and we do make mistakes, and this business that we're in is dangerous," Brig Gawn said.
Among the set standards not followed were the parking of a vehicle inside the 20-metre safe zone, a marker being hammered in about 50cm from the device when it should have been at least a metre away, and F/S Forster's use of a rock, rather than a hammer or mallet, to hammer the marker into the ground.
Brig Gawn said the investigation had emphasised the importance for procedures to be followed by the book.
"I think it's focused our attention on ensuring that the procedures that are in place are followed appropriately," he said.
"It was evident in this particular case that, for whatever reason, they weren't followed to the level that we would expect."
Asked if there were other unexploded munitions in the training area that people could run over or step on, Brig Gawn said there were and that more deaths in the same manner of F/S Forster's were possible.
"Yes, in relation to the fact that a blind (unexploded ammunition) could explode unexpectedly," he said.
"However, if the procedures are followed as they are laid down and as soldiers, sailors and airmen are trained to undertake, then that danger is minimised."
The shell was fired into the area during a live ammunition training exercise sometime in the last 20 years.
Brig Gawn said a register was kept of devices that did not explode after being fired and every effort was made to find and destroy them.
NZPA