How to Be Responsible This Bonfire Night
With Bonfire Night looming, it is important to ensure that you are being responsible in your celebrations this year and not putting yourself or anyone else at risk of danger. Bonfire Night is a fun, celebratory night where lots of people like to gather with family and friends and enjoy the festivities together. However, it is also a time of year where there are lots of incidents, mostly fire based, and caused by irresponsible or careless behaviour. Around Bonfire Night, people will most typically set off fireworks in their garden or attend a professional display, or some people have a bonfire where they can gather with loved ones, and another traditional feature are sparklers, which can be very dangerous and have bad consequences if not used safely and responsibly.
As celebrations are likely to commence over the weekend and throughout the next week, we thought we’d share a few tips on how to stay safe and be responsible this Bonfire Night.
Fireworks
Although you should enjoy yourself and have fun on Bonfire Night, you should not sacrifice any safety for this and furthermore you should be aware of how to enjoy the night safely.
Consider attending a public firework display
Everybody likes to watch and admire fireworks, however we would really recommend that you attend a professional and controlled display at a public event. This is a much safer alternative to handling fireworks yourself at home. Although they may be fairly simple to set off, you must remember that fireworks are explosives and therefore should be handled with extreme care and caution.
Unfortunately, each and every year hospitals receive hundreds of patients injured by fireworks, and the majority of these come from private displays, for example fireworks being set off at home in the garden, as opposed to at professional displays. Although we would advise attending a professional display this Bonfire Night, there are still thousands and thousands of people that set off their own fireworks at home every year, and if you intend to do this, you should be aware of the correct safety measures to take.
Comply to the correct safety measures
Firstly, you should ensure that you are setting fireworks off in a safe environment and that there are no hazards. This might include things nearby that are flammable and could cause a fire to spread quickly. You should also ensure that everyone is a safe distance away when you’re setting off fireworks and that the person in control knows how to set them off properly.
Furthermore, keep any fireworks that aren’t being set off inside the closed box that you purchased them in. You should not misuse fireworks in any way and when setting them off, keep a safe distance and ensure that they aren’t angled at anything, and once lit, do not go back if one doesn’t set off or falls over as this is incredibly dangerous and could have severe consequences if it were to then explode. Finally, you must also check that any fireworks you buy conform with the British Standards, which should be marked on the box.
Look after people and animals
If you’re setting off fireworks at home, you must be responsible in making sure everyone is safe, including pets. On Bonfire Night you should always keep pets indoors as this is much safer for them and reduces the amount of stress they endure. If there is a large group at your private event, always make sure children aren’t left unattended, everyone else is kept well away from the fireworks when they are being set off, and that the person setting them off is not under the influence.
Sparklers
Sparklers are another favourite on Bonfire Night, especially for children. However, there are of course dangers that come with sparklers, and so you must never leave children unattended with them and always be close by if your child has a sparkler to ensure that they are using them safely and not in any danger.
