Be Safe this Bonfire Night!
Bonfire night is one of the most favoured holidays out of the year but is also one of the most dangerous nights of the year. Statistics I have found show that in 2020/2021 there were more than 100 hospital admissions of people with firework related injuries. Around 21 of the 116 admissions were children under the age of 14 and 9 of them were children aged 4 and under.
Here are some important tips categorised to ensure you have a fun and safe Bonfire night this year.
Sparkler safety:
- Always have a bucket of water on hand to drop the used sparklers into to allow them to cool down after use.
- Wear gloves to protect your hands from the flying sparks and the heat emitting from them.
- Hold your sparklers at an arm’s length to also keep safe from the sparks.
- Only use Sparklers outside.
- Only use one sparkler at a time.
- Avoid wearing loose fitting clothing as sparklers can ignite them.
- Do not run around with a sparkler in your hand! this can be very dangerous to the people around you.
Bonfire safety:
- Do not build your bonfire too high.
- Do not light your bonfire with petrol or any flammable liquids.
- Check around your bonfire for things that are easily flammable and remove them.
- When building your bonfire, keep it at least 10 feet away from buildings or combustible materials.
Firework safety:
- NEVER hold a lit firework in your hands.
- Don’t light them indoors. Light them in a spacious place and move anything easily flammable away from the firework.
- NEVER point fireworks at other people.
- Once again, keep a bucket of water on hand at all times.
- Don’t drink alcohol if your setting fireworks off because it will slow down your reaction time.
- Don’t go near a firework that has been lit even if it hasn’t gone off yet, it still could.
Stay safe tonight but don’t forget to have fun!
