National Campaign for Firework Safety
Annual Report 1992

Britain's firework industry is down the tubes, and its leading company Standard Fireworks has been sold by its parent Scottish Heritable Trust, because of losses.  Most fireworks for displays are now imported from Germany, Taiwan and Brazil.  The latter two, standards of consumer safety are at best questionable.  Germany, on the other hand, makes excellent fireworks, but very high powered and dangerous.

As Britain's firework industry goes down the tubes the sale of dangerous fireworks to the general public goes unchallenged.  The British Standard on fireworks is supposed to control the type of fireworks for sale into categories 1, 2, 3 and 4.  Category 3 is for display fireworks and category 4 super display fireworks for very large displays.  Both fireworks from 3 & 4 are being sold for small back garden and park displays by dealers both inside and outside official firework companies.  This is an attempt to offload a slow product to a public looking for bigger and more powerful fireworks.  This has been going on for at least three years.

Meanwhile the Safety Inspectorate has been told by the Government to take a 'hands off' approach.  The importation of dangerous fireworks, following further de regulation, is now handled by the importer, including the inspection of dangerous fireworks.  The DTI have turned a blind eye, its policy - non intervention in industry.

Although a minority of manufacturers are unhappy about this de-regulation, the British Pyrotechnists Association are happy to leave everything to 'voluntary agreements'.

Most countries of Europe, Canada and the US have strong controls on fireworks including licensed firework displays, national training schemes and retail bans.  In Europe, the British Government seeks to undermine existing strong laws through Euro legislation, on the lines of the weakest of these,  which is the British Government's legislation.  This would allow shop sales of dangerous fireworks sold without licenses for displays, and an end to national training schemes.

The only training schemes here are piecemeal and are confined to Standard Fireworks staff, or a fee, outsiders.

Meanwhile NCFR have published a new bill which would deal with the gaping holes in British legislation which is 117 years old.  Our bill would licence firework displays, ban shop sales of dangerous fireworks, which always get into children's hands, and set up national training facilities to compliment licensing.  We would ban imports of dangerous fireworks and control the manufacture and import of category 4 fireworks.

Last July a pensioner in South Woodford reported a horrendously noisy firework display taking place as a celebration just a few gardens away.  She was particularly concerned for the safety of the pets in the area.  After the display she gathered chunks of metal from rockets so thick that if she had been standing in her garden she could well have been killed.  The label on the tube of the firework said, 'made in Germany for Standard Firework Ltd.  Please stand 25 metres back'.  It is clear from the description of the display and the instructions, these fireworks were meant for very large displays of the category 3 or 4 variety and would have taken place in a grounds not less than the officially recommended size of 55m x 45m. 

There was a large number of complaints last year about similar local displays, and for the past 3 years the public are asking if fireworks are becoming too powerful.  We know that 6" shells and 4' rockets are being sold openly to anybody requesting them, and are being used in back gardens.  The effect in performance is the daily scene in Sarajevo.  It can only be a matter of time before there is a disaster.

While the DTI and firework industry works on the new British Standard and/or European, the British firework scene is in chaos.

In 1976 two words of the 1875 Explosives Act were changed.  The age of purchasing fireworks 13 was changed to 16, and the fine for selling fireworks illegally to children under age, or for throwing fireworks in the streets was increased from £20 to £200. 
In 1986 the fine was further increased to £2000, recently it was further increased to £5000.  There are few prosecutions and even then the Magistrates never impose fines higher than £2-400.  The few prosecutions that did occur began for the first about 5 years age when the Liverpool Trading Standards Officers decided they had had enough of shops flagrantly breaking the law.  They sent their own children into shops they had direct evidence of, and prosecuted in each case.  This received national publicity and the Consumer Minister at the time suggested that other Councils should do the same.  Some Councils followed but others told the Minister to get on his bike and introduce his own legislation to close the loopholes in the law, where shopkeepers can and do break the law, get fined and go on selling fireworks again and again.  The Consumer Minister, a member of the 'No Turning Back Group' said that it was not the policy of his Government to interfere in the market place and it should be done through the voluntary efforts of the Trading Standards Officers.

Firework Injuries for 1990
Last year, 723, mostly children and young people,  were injured by fireworks, and treated in hospital.  135 were seriously injured and there were 247 eye injuries.  Although this is a small reduction on the previous year the totals are still higher than when the Government first came to Office and de-regulated.  (555 in 1980, 681 in 1981, 682 in 1982)  They are higher than in the mid seventies, when injuries were in the 600s.  Once again there were horror stories of hooliganism with fireworks.  Animals were injured and tortured with fireworks in Bolton a Police Chief called for a ban on shop sales after a night of violence when 'powerful fireworks' were thrown around the streets, and police and fire-fighters attacked.  In other parts of the country the story was the same.  Hundreds more injuries occurred at firework displays and in back gardens and were treated by Parents, GP's, Chemists and First Aiders.  They are not included in official lists as they were not hospital cases.  Although Bangers and Rockets accounted for most injuries, sparklers which most parents regard as safe caused 101 children to have hospital treatment.  Children hold white hot sparklers up to their eyes and burn them.

Most people now want new firework legislation.  They want licensing and training, and a ban on shop sales.  This has been confirmed throughout Britain in TV poll after TV poll.  Last year once again we had a large mailbag from the public who are sick to the back teeth of the continuing yearly problems from fireworks.  This time they tackled Ministers and MP's direct.  They are pursuing their letters and demands for meetings and an explanation of the Governments non intervention in industry line.

There is only one person in the firework industry to emerge with any distinction.  That is John Woodhead.  A giant in an industry dominated by pygmies, backwoodsmen, and cowboys.  Woodhead has seen the pitfalls of his industry and has spoken out clearly.  Following our reports on the legislative situation in Europe, Canada and the US he has gone to these countries to see for himself.  The Canadian legislative situation which we have taken as a model since the early seventies has also appealed to Mr Woodhead.  In Canada over 5000 people are trained each year and fireworks are sold only under licence for display purposes.  Mr Woodhead knows that this is the lead Britain should be following.  His industry is too blinkered and too narrow minded to respond.  With his thirty years experience he knows if something isn't done soon it may be too late for another famous British Industry.  He tells us that shortly a banger with 5 times more gunpowder may be coming in from abroad.  Because of the lack of regulations it may just get through.  This could mean a disaster if it gets into the hands of children of children through shop sales.  The only contradiction lies in the fact that Standard Fireworks where Mr Woodhead works supplies over 90% of fireworks to local High Street shops.  These cause the bulk of injuries to young children every year.  But in a fast changing company this may not be the situation for much longer.  We will be fighting side by side with John Woodhead on all these issues, if the industry needs a regulator and it does, it should be none other than John Woodhead.

This Government have a bad record on firework consumer safety.  Their belief that there should be no interference in the 'market place' is an ideology which has had its day and now must go.  When that is taken on board we will no longer be talking about hundreds and hundreds of children injured by fireworks each year.  Of animals injured and old people frightened, and dangerous fireworks in the hands of untrained and unlicensed people.  A Bill is ready.  The time to act is now.
NOEL TOBIN - DIRECTOR

The National Campaign for Firework Safety was at this time named as The National Campaign for Firework Reform