asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he is now in a position to issue the latest annual statistics for fireworks injuries.
[pursuant to the reply, 26 March 1982, c. 444]: According to reports from hospitals in England, Wales and Scotland, 681 persons required treatment for injuries caused by fireworks during a four-week period in October to November. Although the total is disappointing, this was a reduction of about one-third in the number of severe injuries when compared with those for 1980. The figures for 1981 and the preceding four years are as follows:
Year
| 1981
| 1980
| 1979
| 1978
| 1977
|
| 4 Casual incident in street, etc. | 216 | 177 | 277 | 336 | 248 |
| 5 Other place | 46 | 31 | 49 | 49 | 51 |
| 6 Indoors* | 16 | 17 | 28 | 18 | |
Type of Firework
| |||||
| 1 Banger | 156 | 125 | 183 | 210 | 174 |
| 2 Rocket | 95 | 64 | 64 | 111 | 82 |
| 3 Roman candle, coloured fire, etc. | 101 | 79 | 118 | 153 | 111 |
| 4 Home-made or extracted powder | 23 | 18 | 33 | 39 | 18 |
| 5 Other proprietary fireworks of which: | 60 | 45 | 64 | 103 | 90 |
| 5.1 Flyabout† | 14 | ||||
| 6 Sparklers | 47 | 30 | 47 | 70 | 65 |
| 7 Unspecified type | 164 | 164 | 206 | 226 | 234 |
Severity of Injury
| |||||
| 1 Fatal injury | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| 2 Detained more than one night | 22 | 44 | 47 | 62 | 65 |
| 3 Sufficient to cause absence from work or equivalent | 59 | 80 | 91 | 117 | 88 |
| 4 Minor injury | 503 | 380 | 545 | 694 | 523 |
| 5 Unspecified injury | 62 | 21 | 32 | 39 | 32 |
| Eye injuries (included in 2–5) | 250 | 247 | 303 | 350 | 268 |
Age Group of Injured Persons
| |||||
| Over 20 | 127 | 94 | 139 | 161 | 141 |
| 16–20 | 86 | 65 | 78 | 68 | 38 |
| 13–15 | 164 | 140 | 203 | 216 | 185 |
| Under 13 | 269 | 226 | 294 | 467 | 345 |
* Included in "other place" prior to 1978. | |||||
| † Included in other proprietary fireworks from 1978. | |||||
Firework injuries in Scotland
| ||||||
(4 week period in October-November)
| ||||||
Year
| 1981
| 1980
| 1979
| 1978
| 1977
| |
Place of accident
| Total | 35 | 30 | 30 | 41 | 24 |
| 1 Family or private party | 7 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 3 | |
| 2 Semi-public party (eg Scouts, cricket club) | 8 | — | 7 | 11 | 6 | |
| 3 Large public display | 7 | 5 | ||||
| 4 Casual incident in street, etc. | 13 | 17 | 13 | 14 | 10 | |
| 5 Other place | — | — | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| 6 Indoors* | — | 3 | 1 | — | — | |
Type of Firework
| ||||||
| 1 Banger | 11 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2 Rocket | 7 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 5 | |
| 3 Roman candle, coloured fire, etc. | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1 | |
| 4 Home-made or extracted powder | 3 | 1 | 2 | — | 1 | |
| 5 Other proprietary fireworks of which: | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | |
| 5.1 Flyabout† | 1 | |||||
| 6 Sparklers | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | |
| 7 Unspecified type | 3 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 11 | |
Severity of Injury
| ||||||
| 1 Fatal injury | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2 Detained more than one night | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | |
| 3 Sufficient to cause absence from work or equivalent | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | |
| 4 Minor injury | 28 | 23 | 20 | 36 | 16 | |
| 5 Unspecified injury | 2 | 3 | 2 | — | 1 | |
| Eye injuries (included in 2–5) | 11 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 8 | |
Age Group of Injured Persons
| ||||||
| Over 20 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 4 | |
| 16–20 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 13–15 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 5 | |
| Under 13 | 18 | 12 | 13 | 20 | 13 | |
* Included in "other place" prior to 1978. | ||||||
| † Included in other proprietary fireworks from 1978. | ||||||