| Firework Safety Advice | |
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29 October, 2001 Help protect children and young people from firework injury this firework season. This is the message from Kingston Council who have issued a warning about firework safety during the run up to this year's fireworks season celebrating, amongst other things, Guy Fawkes night, Diwali, Hanukkah and New Year. Kingston's Chief Trading Standards Officer Ted Forsyth said, "The number of reported accidents caused by fireworks has been falling over recent years and we hope that the trend continues this year. The law prohibits the sale of fireworks to anyone under the age of 18 and trading standards staff in Kingston are carrying out checks to ensure that shop keepers comply with this law. Those who do not can expect to be reported for prosecution. We take such offences particularly seriously as last year, although Kingston hospital only reported that one person had attended for a firework injury, nationally there were just under 1,000 people treated at hospital casualty departments in Great Britain." |
Ted Forsyth added "Over 50% of firework injuries were to children under
16 with over 100 injuries being caused by sparklers. What starts of as
lighthearted fun with a firework can end up with a young person being
disfigured for life.
Whilst about 25% of injuries are caused by incidents in the street or other public place, just under half of all accidents take place at family or private parties where research has shown that alcohol is present in almost all cases. My advice is that if you are responsible for letting off the fireworks, don't drink until afterwards. If you are having a family party do provide a bucket of water for spent sparklers. Sparklers burn at about 2,000 degrees C and last year many young children received burns from spent sparklers they picked up assuming to be safe. The message is, enjoy the firework celebrations but do take care." Nicky Buckley from Fight of Sight, the UK's leading charity in the battle against blindness, working in conjunction with Moorfields Eye Hospital said, "We want to draw attention to the damage fireworks can cause to eyes." Further advice and information on firework safety is available at the Department of Trade and Industry's Home Safety website at |
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