HC Deb 23 February 1977 vol 926 cc576-9W
Mr. Gwilym Roberts

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will now publish the firework injury statistics for 1976; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Fraser

Statistics are now available of persons who received treatment at hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales for injuries caused by fireworks during the period 17th October to 13th November 1976. There was an overall decrease in firework injuries treated by hospitals of more than 10 per cent. from the previous year, to the lowest number since these records were first kept. Statistics for comparable periods in 1972 and 1968–1969 for Scotland—show the remarkable reduction in injuries from fireworks which has been achieved over this period:

England and Wales
1968 … … … 2,537
1972 … … … 1,260
1976 … … … 663
Scotland
1969* … … … 90
1972 … … … 64
1976 … … … 22
(*The first year records were kept.)

Following are the 1976 statistics, together with the figures for comparable periods in the four preceding years.

FIREWORK INJURIES IN GREAT BRITAIN (4-week period in October-November)
AGE GROUP OF INJURED PERSONS
Over 21 … … … … … 129 120 134 202 174
16–20 … … … … … 47 53 59 78 69
13–16 … … … … … 147 161 194 265 270
Under 13 … … … … … 362 432 540 704 811
* Jumping crackers were not sold in 1976.
..=Not available.

FIREWORK INJURIES IN ENGLAND AND WALES (4-week period in October-November)
Year
1976 1975 1974 1973 1972
TOTAL 663 728 883 1,186 1,260
PLACE OF ACCIDENT
1 Family or private party 273 215 267 385 441
2 Public or semi-public party 161 144 137 153 166
3 Casual incident in street etc. 154 203 272 422 422
4 Other place 51 65 89 119 95
5 Unspecified place 24 101 118 107 136
TYPE OF FIREWORK
1 Banger 153 196 228 356 369
2 Rocket 85 83 70 118 129
3 Display firework 89 117 151 280 262
4 Home-made or extracted powder 17 24 29 38 54
5 Other type of which: of which: 119 107 154 137 134
5.1 Jumping cracker* — 26 42 58 51
5.2 Other flyabout 14 25 52 .. ..
6 Unspecified type 200 201 251 257 312
SEVERITY OF INJURY
1 Fatal injury — — — — —
2 Detained more than one night 47 43 70 80 91
3 Sufficient to cause absence from work or equivalent 112 93 121 178 143
4 Minor injury 473 572 654 892 1,009
5 Unspecified injury 31 20 38 36 17
AGE GROUP OF INJURED PERSONS
Over 21 126 114 131 195 167
16–20 47 50 58 74 68
13–16 143 152 184 248 257
Under 13 347 412 510 669 768
*Jumping crackers were not sold in 1976.
..=Not available.

FIREWORK INJURIES IN SCOTLAND (4-week period in October-November)
Year
1976 1975 1974 1973 1972
TOTAL 22 38 44 63 64
PLACE OF ACCIDENT
1 Family or private party 4 3 5 13 13
2 Public or semi-public party 6 4 7 7 16
3 Casual incident in street etc. 6 17 18 26 21
4 Other place 5 4 5 9 5
5 Unspecified place 1 10 9 8 9
TYPE OF FIREWORK
1 Banger 6 12 9 23 22
2 Rocket 6 6 9 11 3
3 Display firework — 2 8 14 8
4 Home-made or extracted powder — 3 2 2 2
5 Other type of which: — 3 5 2 6
5.1 Jumping cracker* — — 1 1 2
5.2 Other flyabout — 2 2 .. ..
6 Unspecified type 10 12 11 11 23
SEVERITY OF INJURY
1 Fatal injury — — — — —
2 Detained more than one night 3 3 8 4 5
3 Sufficient to cause absence from work or equivalent 6 3 6 10 4

FIREWORK INJURIES IN SCOTLAND (4-week period in October-November)
4 Minor injury … … 13 30 29 46 51
5 Unspecified injury … … — 2 1 3 4
AGE GROUP OF INJURED PERSONS
Over 21 … … 3 6 3 7 7
16–20 … … — 3 1 4 1
13–16 … … 4 9 10 17 13
Under 13 … … 15 20 30 35 43
*Jumping crackers were not sold in 1976.
..=Not available.