HC Deb 15 April 1983 vol 40 cc472-5W
Mr. Greenway

asked the Minister for Trade what are the fireworks injuries statistics for 1982.

Dr. Vaughan

According to reports from hospitals in England Wales and Scotland, 626 people required treatment for injuries caused by fireworks during a four-week period in October and. November 1982. This is the second lowest figure ever recorded and 55 lower than 1981. The figures for 1982 and the preceding four years are as follows:

Year 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978
2 Semi-public party (eg scouts, cricket club) 53 58 47 135 175
3 Large public display 88 101 95
4 Casual incident in street etc 220 229 194 290 350
5 Other place 61 46 31 52 51
6 Indoors 15 16 20 29 18
TOTAL 626 681 555 745 953
Type of firework
1 Banger 147 167 135 190 212
2 Rocket 71 102 66 73 122
3 Roman candle, coloured fire etc 84 107 81 124 160
4 Home-made or extracted powder 35 26 19 34 39
5 Other proprietary fireworks 82 64 46 65 107
6 Sparklers 40 48 33 48 71
7 Unspecified type 167 167 175 211 242
Severity of injury
1 Fatal injury — — — — —
2 Detained more than one night 33 24 46 49 65
3 Sufficient to cause absence from work or equivalent 67 62 82 97 119
4 Minor injury 489 531 403 565 730
5 Unspecified injury 37 64 24 34 39
Eye injuries (included in 2–5) 241 261 261 310 363
Age group of injured persons
Over 20 139 132 100 146 170
16–20 73 89 66 80 70
13–15 149 173 151 211 226
Under 13 265 287 238 308 487
Firework injuries in England and Wales (4 week period in October-November)
Place of Accident
1 Family or private party 184 224 163 233 345
2 Semi-public party (eg scouts, cricket club) 50 50 47 128 164
3 Large public display 86 94 90
4 Casual incident in street etc 205 216 177 277 336
5 Other place 61 46 31 49 49
6 Indoors 15 16 17 28 18
TOTAL 601 646 525 715 912
Type of firework
1 Banger 137 156 125 183 210
2 Rocket 67 95 64 64 111
3 Roman candle, coloured fire etc 80 101 79 118 153
4 Home-made or extracted powder 35 23 18 33 39
5 Other proprietary fireworks 81 60 45 64 103
6 Sparklers 39 47 30 47 70
7 Unspecified type 162 164 164 206 226
Severity of injury
1 Fatal injury — — — — —
2 Detained more than one night 33 22 44 47 62
3 Sufficient to cause absence from work or equivalent 63 59 80 91 117
4 Minor injury 469 503 380 545 694
5 Unspecified injury 36 62 21 32 39
Eye injuries (included in 2–5) 232 250 247 303 350
Age group of injured persons
Over 20 137 127 94 139 161
16–20 68 86 65 78 68
13–15 140 164 140 203 216
Under 13 256 269 226 294 467
Firework injuries in Scotland (4 week period in October-November)
Place of Accident
1 Family or private party 5 7 5 6 14
2 Semi-public party (eg scouts, cricket club) 3 8 — 7 11
3 Large public display 2 7 5

Year 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978
4 Casual incident in street etc 15 13 17 13 14
5 Other place — — — 3 2
6 Indoors — — 3 1 —
TOTAL 25 35 30 30 41
Type of firework
1 Banger 10 11 10 7 2
2 Rocket 4 7 2 9 11
3 Roman candle, coloured fire etc 4 6 2 5 7
4 Home-made or extracted powder — 3 1 2 —
5 Other proprietary fireworks 1 4 1 1 4
6 Sparklers 1 1 3 1 1
7 Unspecified type 5 3 11 5 16
Severity of injury
1 Fatal injury — — — — —
2 Detained more than one night — 2 2 2 3
3 Sufficient to cause absence from work or equivalent 4 3 2 6 2
4 Minor injury 20 28 23 20 36
5 Unspecified injury 1 2 3 2 —
Eye injuries (included in 2–5) 9 11 14 7 13
Age group of injured persons
Over 20 2 5 6 7 9
16–20 5 3 1 2 2
13–15 9 9 11 8 10
Under 13 9 18 12 13 20