HC Deb 06 April 1973 vol 854 cc172-3W
Mr. Fowler

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT particulars of the accidents caused by fireworks during the period 15th October to 11th November 1972, together with comparable figures for the four previous years.

Mr. Lane

The table below analyses the information obtained from hospitals in England and Wales relating to the 1,260 persons who received hospital treatment

FIREWORK INJURIES IN ENGLAND AND WALES
1972 1971 1970 1969 1968
A. Place where injury occurred:
(i) Family or private party 441 382 433 680 1,125
(ii) Public or semi-public party in park or open space … 166 139 155 206 367
(iii) Casual incident in street … 422 349 399 492 689
(iv) Other place … 95 88 87 151 193
(v) Unknown … 136 101 90 107 163
B. Type of firework involved:
(i) Banger … 369 316 359 491 759
(ii) Rocket … 129 126 160 198 366
(iii) Jumping Cracker … 51 47 46 95 145
(iv) Display firework, e.g. Roman Candle … 262 223 250 354 558
(v) Home-made or extracted powder … 54 57 48 56 96
(vi) Other than above … 83 82 95 138 168
(vii) Unknown … 312 208 206 304 445
C. Age group of persons injured:
(i) Over 21 … 167 145 184 276 543
(ii) 16–20 … 68 56 96 104 163
(iii) 13–15 … 257 210 226 304 416
(iv) Under 13 … 768 648 658 952 1,415
D. Severity of injury:
(i) Died … — 1 — — —
(ii) Detained more than one night … 91 69 74 240✶ 392✶
(iii) Other severe injury … 143 88 104 — —
(iv) Minor injury … 1,009 879 965 1,358 2105
(v) Unknown … 17 22 21 38 s540
* Separate figures for categories (ii) and (iii) are not available for these years.

Mr. Fowler

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he proposes to take any action this year with a view to reducing the number of accidents caused by fireworks.

Mr. Lane

The number of injuries caused by fireworks in 1972 was greater than in 1971 or 1970, but substantially smaller than in any other year since 1962, when records were first kept. Every effort must be made to reduce injuries this year, and I am therefore having further discussions with manufacturers, particularly about the marking of fireworks, and with chief officers of police.