Andy Smith
MIne-action specialist

Specialist in Humanitarian Mine Action covering:

manual demining procedures;
mechanically assisted demining procedures;
accidents and accident avoidance;
training;
International Mine action Standards (IMAS);
protective equipment;
survey and Land Release.

Citizen of the UK, resident in Wales
Licensed to retain inert mines in the UK
Age 57. Married.

• BA 2.1 in Philosophy and Literature (Warwick University, UK) 1982;
• PGCE - (Post Graduate teaching qualification), UK, 1984
• Member of the British Standards Institute PH/3/12 Protective Clothing and Equipment committee;
• Originally elected, subsequently invited, active member of UNMAS International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) review board (2001-2011: since inception);
• Originator and keeper of the (previously) UNMAS supported Database of Demining Accidents (DDAS);
• Originator and author of the popular Mine Action website – www.nolandmines.com;
• Co-author of EU publication – Metal-detector handbook for Humanitarian Demining;
• Originator of blast visor manufacturing method for technology transfer that now provides the most used blast visors in Humanitarian Mine Action (manufactured in a mine-affected country and sold on by major European suppliers);
• Originator of the frontal blast-apron body-armour concept for Humanitarian Demining, variations on which are now the norm in Humanitarian MIne Action;
• Originator of the design rules for, and simple manufacturing methods of, genuinely blast-resistant tools for Humanitarian Mine action.
• Trustee of of the UK's former combatant PTSD charity, R3 Cymru.

2007 activities:
Nov-Dec: consultant/trainer contracted to an international NGO in Jordan;
Feb - Sept: UNDP CTA for HMA, Tajikistan;
Jan-Feb: Programme Manager for HMA INGO in Sri Lanka; and
Continued active membership of the IMAS Review Board.

2006 activities:
Aug - December: Programme Manager for HMA INGO based in Sri Lanka;
Jan: CTA for Commercial demining group, preparing IMAS compliant generic SOPs and preparing bids; and
Continued active membership of the IMAS Review Board.

2005 activities:
Dec: speaker at BAM's "Reliability tests for Demining" in Berlin. Presented paper jointly with Christina Mueller on "Human factors" in conducting trials and tests;
Oct-Nov: Consultant drafting documents for INGO in Sri Lanka. Designing the on-line version of the Database of Demining Accidents (DDAS);
May: invited specialist at KODE Design AS Humanitarian Demining PPE workshop in Oslo, working on an improved demining visor which became the ROFI mask);
Jan-May: contracted to INGO in Sri Lanka as a Technical Advisor and Trainer for Asian demining INGO partners. The work included the development of tools and machines to assist manual demining with Asian demining NGOs, training and carrying out equipment tests and trials alongside normal TA duties. I also prepared various SOPs and related documents for the national accreditation of the partner NGOs; and
Continued contract to update the Database of Demining Accidents for UNMAS/GICHD.

2004 activities:
Contracted to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) through the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) to update and analyse the database of accidents that have occurred during mine-clearance (I began that database in 1998);
Elected member of the Review Board for the UN's International Mine Action Standards, and an invited member of various groups concerned with the development of standards and best practice within humanitarian demining. Member of CEN/BT/WG 126 and drafted the business plan with a view to achieving consensus on developing appropriate tests for protective equipment within the HD industry;
Contracted to GICHD to carry out 2004 field studies in Iraq, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Cambodia (followed by field trials in Mozambique) as part of an ongoing study of Manual Demining; and
In January, I was part of the management and presentation board of the EU's Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra's workshop on the use of metal-detectors in Humanitarian Demining (following joint authorship of the handbook on the use of metal detectors in humanitarian demining).

2003 activities:
Elected member of the UN International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) review board. Occasional advisor/consultant to demining NGOs, and to academic and research institutions;
Nov: Invited adviser and speaker at the ITEP - Workshop, (International Test and Evaluation Program for Humanitarian Demining) on Reliability Tests for Demining, Berlin;
Jan-Nov: Writing (joint authorship and editor) the Metal Detector Handbook for Humanitarian Demining, published by the EU and distributed by the UNMAS and the EU;
July-Oct: Contracted as adviser, trial-planner and independent observer of innovative demining technology trials in Angola. (Trials took place in October/November 2003);
June: Contracted to South African government agency to attend, address and document mined-area marking workshop with a view to improving marking systems;.
March-April: Various research throughout Southern Africa, including contracts to write NGO SOPs to meet the new International Standards, writing a risk-assessment for the live-area testing of a new detection technology, and a formal assessment of an NGO's problems with its insurer;
March: Instructing engineering students at MIT, Boston, USA and University of Warwick, UK, on varied demining issues;
Feb: Training SWEDEC deminers on the risks in Humanitarian Demining in Kosovo. Training industry technicians in HD generally; and
Continued gathering of data for the Database of Demining Accidents.

2002 activities:
Elected member of the UN International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) review board. Occasional advisor/consultant to demining INGOs;
Dec: the ITEP/JRC, invited "expert advisor… to contribute a user's perspective to the work on specifying metal detector test and evaluation in CWA 07". ISPRA, Italy;
Aug 2002 - 2003: editor and joint authorship of hand-book on metal-detectors and their use in humanitarian demining (finished in 2003);
June: Judge (for the fourth year) in Mine Action Canada's annual academic competition to find engineering technology appropriate for exploitation in HD;
April: the ITEP/JRC, invited "expert advisor… to contribute a user's perspective to the work on specifying metal detector test and evaluation in CW07". ISPRA, Italy;
April: SWEDEC Scientist/Technician course, EOD school, Eksjo, Sweden and in the field in Croatia. Attending as instructor and trainee! Certificate gained;
March: Various activities throughout Southern Africa, including the provision of inert AP landmines for US DoD via HEC consultants, Namibia; advising the Namibian Explosives Police; and the collection of injury data and explosive ordnance records. Researching and authoring ordnance fact sheets for field use;
Feb-March: Devising, arranging and completing a series of six Mine Action workshops with demining groups throughout Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The workshops introduced the "Mined Area Indicators - Mozambique" training resource to deminer and surveyor trainers. The National MAC (IND) requested several hundred copies for National distribution; and
Jan: Completion of Version 3 of the DDAS (formerly DDI, Database of Demining Incidents) for UNMAS.

2001 activities:
Elected member of the UN International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) review board. Occasional advisor/consultant to demining NGOs;
Jan-Dec: Update of the Database of Demining Accidents (formerly the AVS Database of Demining Incident Victims) with GICHD/UNMAS. The database features 365 incidents with 473 victims - many with full inquiry reports. A separate dataset of civilian mine victims is included to show the versatility of the software which has been revised for field use alongside IMSMA. CD available to demining researchers from GICHD at no cost;
Aug: advise/organise/implement/document blast testing of PPE with Namibia Explosive Police for SADEC;
March and August 2001: design and build multi-sensor detector test area in Angola for demining NGO and manage/report its first usage by EU research programme DEMINE;
Aug: Advisor to UNMAS as active member of User focus group involved in the production of the new Internal Mine Action Standards;
June: Judge (for the third year) in Mine Action Canada's annual academic competition to find engineering technology appropriate for exploitation in HD;
March-June: Authoring and production of Mine Action training resource for Angola - a resource pack featuring 55 x A3 (US B) sized colour photographs of mined areas, mined area indicators and detailed mines. This work was carried out with the GWHF (a US Foundation) and funded by US DoS; and
Feb: accident research assisted by the MACC in Kosovo.

1999-2000 activities:
Active invited member of GICHD/UNMAS User Focus Group engaged in advising on the revision of UNMAS International Mine Action Standards. Occasional advisor/consultant to demining NGOs;
Production of Mine Action training resource for Mozambique - a resource pack featuring 55 x A3 (US B) sized colour photographs of mined areas, mined area indicators and detailed mines. This work was carried out with the GWHF (a US Foundation) and funded by US DoS. Production of "pilot" training materials to assess the potential of the later programme;
Programme for US Army CECOM NVESD - Development and demonstration of protective equipment items for use in humanitarian demining. This included the development of a range of safer demining handtools that are now widely used, and completion of earlier work on visor and armour production suitable for exploitation in mine-affected countries (no proprietary rights on any designs are retained and details are given freely on request). See the AVS Manual Demining tools at Demining hand-tools;
Invited independent observer at HD equipment trials in Namibia;
General and incident research in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, USA; and
Design and production of prototype micro-vegetation cutter for use in humanitarian demining HD (in collaboration with radio control and robotics specialists). This awaits completion for field trial.

1998 -1999 activities:
Occasional advisor/consultant to demining NGOs, MIT Boston and to Cranfield University's Mine Action Centre, UK;
Subcontracted to US Army CECOM NVESD as a subject matter specialist. This involved making extensive field visits and producing reports, video and photographs. I spent much of my time travelling in mined countries (Afghanistan, Cambodia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe) researching the demining methods, equipment, management regimes and the various incidents/accidents that had occurred. I took advantage of being in mined areas to continue the explosive testing of equipment that I had started previously, gathered information on UXO for the US ORDATA database. I also arranged, conducted and documented field trials of a variety of new equipment. Blast testing and field trials of equipment took place at various sites in Afghanistan, Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Prior to 1998:
With a background in developing appropriate equipment for manufacture and use in developing countries (water pumps), I became active in Humanitarian Demining in 1994/5. I worked either independently or with the engineering departments of academic institutions (UK and Australia) developing a range of protective equipment, tools and vegetation cutting machines for use in HD until 1997, when I cut ties with those academic institutions (I advise several others informally). During that time I was trained by the British Royal Engineers, by small commercial demining and surveying groups, and traveled widely in mined areas. I carried out numerous blast tests of equipment in the UK, Africa and Asia, inadvertently becoming a specialist in AP mines (technical) and their safe removal.

Publications on web

Generic SOPs - Handbook for Humanitarian Demining (2nd edition 2009). Distributed freely and widely downloaded over its first year (popular Chapters averaging for than 500 downloads per month).

Metal-detector Handbook for Humanitarian Demining
Pub EU, 2003, ISBN 92-894-6236-1. Distributed by UNMAS, GICHD, ITEP and the EU.
Available as a download *.pdf file. Either click on the title above or go to: - http://www.itep.ws

Using the Database of Demining Accidents, by Andy Smith (6.2)
maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.2/notes/andysmith/andysmith.htm - 39k -

Myths, Mines and Ground Clearance [Article 2], by Andy Smith (7.2)
maic.jmu.edu/journal/7.2/notes/smith/smith.htm - 23k -

Driving the HD Machine in the African Bush, by Andy Smith (6.2)
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.2/features/andysmith/andysmith.htm - 25k -

Developing Safer Demining Handtools in Zimbabwe, by Andy Smith (6.2)
maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.2/focus/andysmith/andysmith.htm - 25k -

Need To Know? Mine Action Education Resources, by Andy Smith (6.3)
maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.3/features/smith/smith.htm - 17k -

Myths, Mines, and Ground Clearance [Article 1], by Andy Smith (2.3)
maic.jmu.edu/journal/2.3/features/myths.htm - 36k -

IMAS and PPE Requirements, by Andy Smith (7.1)
maic.jmu.edu/journal/7.1/focus/smith/smith.htm - 29k -

The Facts on Protection Needs in Humanitarian Demining, by Andy Smith. (4.2) maic.jmu.edu/journal/4.2/Focus/PN/protectneeds.htm - 49k -

Observations and inferences – Reflections on the AVS Database of Demining Incidents...
www.minesactioncanada.org/techdocuments/smithmineinjuryreport.html

MINE INJURY DATABASE Observations and inferences: See Crunching data
www.minesactioncanada.org/techdocuments/deminerinjury.html

Injuries that Occur in Humanitarian Demining, Landmine Monitor 1999
www.icbl.org/lm/2000/appendices/injuries.html - 32k

The future of "Humanitarian" demining: charitable or commercial? by Andy Smith
www.minesactioncanada.org/techdocuments/commercial.html

For other publications on humanitarian demining issues, go to Publications