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Pyro Safety Guidelines


drsound

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This might not be directly related to the stage pyros that most Blue Roomers are involved with but I was hoping for some guidance.

 

A friend of ours recently received a serious eye injury caused by debris from a pyro at a public fireworks display (I told you it wasn't absolutely relevant!). She has engaged a solicitor to help recover lost earnings and investigate prosecuting the company responsible. I was also at the event and in my humble opinion the operator did not have the crowd barriers far enough away from the launch site and also did not take account of the wind strength and direction. I also received debris in my eye and had to remove my contact lens to retrieve a sharp piece of metal from it. A good number of people standing near us had similar problems.

 

The solicitor is somewhat clueless and has informed her that she needs to find out what "Health and Safety Laws" were breached. Personally I'd have thought that he would do this himself at £250 an hour but there you go.

 

My question is: are there any guidelines or codes of practice to which public displays of this sort would be expected to adhere? I feel that there must be something somewhere that outlines the duty of care to members of the public. I would imagine that we can then apply a reverse burden of proof principle to have him justify the safety precautions he took.

 

It's not a field I'm very experienced in so any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

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<pedant>Pyrotechnics are not fireworks</pedant>

 

I suggest you contact the Health and Safety Executive; there are also a number of guides and pointers on the HSE website.

 

I would also go and find yourself a proper solicitor who is prepared to familiarise themselves with the subject of the case you are employing them to persue!

 

If there were indeed a number of people involved in this incident then trying to find them as witnesses and/or joining you might be an idea.

 

Go back to the site and see if you can find any spent fireworks as further evidence. Was it Heras fencing? Can you still see where the bases were on the ground relative to the staging area.

 

I have been to many displays over the years and picked up a few fireworks that say 25m safe distance on them and most of the crowd was within 10m. At one display, I nearly saw one of the organisers loose his head when a mortar style went off within a second of lighting it a dropping it in the launching tube.

 

I personally believe all fireworks should not be sold to the public and there should also be more strict rules on who can put on a display.

(My father is a retired fire officer)

 

Good luck with your persuit.

 

Andrew.

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Thanks for the responses. I'm well aware that fireworks are not the same as stage pyros as I believe I previously inferred. They remain, however, pyrotechnic devices and as such I know that several members are experienced in their use.

 

I have no intention of involving myself in the case beyond being a lay-witness if I'm asked to do so. The only interest I have is to identify what, if any, codes of practice or guidelines are in use by people in that particular field of operations. I have no desire to become Magnum, Quincy or Judge John Deed and start carrying out forensic examination of the site several months after the fact.

 

Thank you to those Blue Roomers who have made the effort to get in touch with me personally offering positive, well-informed and constructive information. It's a refreshing change to be honest.

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<pedant>Pyrotechnics are not fireworks</pedant>

 

Well if we're talking pedantic then fireworks are a form of pyrotechnic. A match is a form of pyrotechnic. I'd agree that there may be some logistical differences along the way between stage pyrotechnics and those used in firework displays, but they are to all intents and purposes the same thing.

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... there may be some logistical differences along the way between stage pyrotechnics and those used in firework displays, but they are to all intents and purposes the same thing.

Not in law they are not. Which makes it a bit more than a logistical difference.

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One thing to remember that just because a firework has a safety distance of 25m -A heck of a lot of fireworks fire vertically a lot more than 25m, and therefore the safety distances must always be adjusted accordingly. Any one who works with pyro should always think about what should happen is a firework were to fall over and point towards the audience and take measures against this happening. (I.e staking on the audience side, adjusting safety distances etc etc)
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