Fire Work Safety - Helping Families to Make Safer Choices

The cancellation of organised firework displays for bonfire night and Diwali in 2020 may mean that more parents do their own display at home.  It is predicted that 500 children and their families will join the growing number of people who will remember bonfire night for the wrong reasons. They will have been injured as a result of an accident with fireworks.

We need to do all we can to highlight the risk to the families we work with. Did you know there are 4 categories of fireworks? They are:

• Category One: Indoor Fireworks
• Category Two: Are suitable for back gardens
• Category Three: fireworks which require a minimum safety distance of 25 meters, which is far bigger than the average family back garden. they are designed for large displays and should not be used in back gardens.
• Category Four: are meant for professional use only.

You should advise parents to buy from reputable retailers and avoid pop-up shops; Only buy fireworks marked with safety standards (EN 15947 or BS 7114); and to follow the guidance on the following websites:

• www.gov.uk  Firework safety from the office for product safety and standards.
• www.rospa.com/homesafety   for a Firework code including sparkler safety and bonfire safety.
• www.capt.org.uk/ for more information and guidance click here.
• www.cbtrust.org.uk The Children’s burns trust also has statistics on accidents as well as good advice to share with parents.