January 13 2004, Daily Yomiuri On-Line, Govt agency to review firework safety standards
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency will review the safety standards on fireworks for the first time in 50 years to prevent accidents involving spectators at fireworks displays and explosions at fireworks factories, agency officials said.
The government agency, which supervises manufacturers and dealers of explosives, will review the standards by focusing on launch safety measures, the management of explosives depending on their explosive power and the storage of fireworks.
Under the existing system, based on traditions and experiences, each prefecture sets safety standards regulating the distance from the launching site to spectators and pyrotechnicians.
The agency will set up a nationwide set of safety standards for the distance from the launching site by conducting experiments with various wind directions and fireworks with different dimensions.
Recently, new types of fireworks have been developed to improve their display and sound at launch and in the air.
Several metallic powders are used to achieve these improvements. As a result, fireworks are more powerful than ever, making them more likely to cause serious damage when they explode accidentally.
After 10 people were killed in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Kagoshima Prefecture in April 2003, the effectiveness of the 50-year-old safety standards was thrown into doubt.
The agency plans to create a database on the force of fireworks and the level of vulnerability to accidental explosions and will review the standards for storage and management, the agency officials said.
About 20 to 30 accidents occur at fireworks displays annually, according to the agency. Four people were killed in 22 accidents last year. In August 2002, a girl died after a piece of a firework struck her head at a festival in Hokkaido.

January 8 2004, Dayton Daily News, Man held in tot's firework injury
MIDDLETOWN -- A Butler County grand jury will consider felony charges against a Middletown man accused of lighting a firework in a car. A toddler was burned in the incident.

Wednesday, at a preliminary hearing, Municipal Judge Mark W. Wall found sufficient evidence to advance the case against Nathanal Harden, 18, who has been in the city jail since Dec. 27 on charges of aggravated arson and felonious assault.

Middletown police Juvenile Detective Fred Shuemake testified that Harden willingly came to the police station to talk with him a few hours after the Dec. 27 incident. Harden said he was in the back seat of a car with Tabitha Hollandsworth, 16, who was holding her son, 21-month-old Shawn Hollandsworth, when Harden lit a firework he intended to throw from the car window, Shuemake said.

The firework came back into the car, and Harden held it as it shot flames that left the toddler with second-degree burns and facial scarring, blistering and scabbing, Shuemake said.

January 5 2004, ManchesterOnline - News, Europe joins war on firework peril
OVER-the-counter firework sales could soon be restricted throughout Europe.

EU chiefs are planning to harmonise laws across all 15 member states in ways that would make it illegal for members of the public to buy certain powerful fireworks. The new rules will also stop sub-standard devices from mainland Europe slipping into Britain by the back door.

The move follows the government's decision to rush through certain elements of the new Fireworks Act before New Year's Eve.

North West Euro MP Arlene McCarthy took the M.E.N.'s campaign for a clampdown on sales to the heart of Europe.

Now European Commissioner Erkki Liikanen has said officers are working on tougher rules that would apply to all EU members - including Britain.

Approved

He said: "Work is underway to develop a proposal on harmonised rules for the approval and categorisation of fireworks for consideration by the commission.

"These rules should provide consumers with a high level of protection, ensuring that only approved fireworks are placed on the market.

"The proposed legislation would categorise fireworks, with certain fireworks being restricted to professionals only."

Mrs McCarthy said: "The commission is finally responding to repeated demands from Euro MPs to take EU action on fireworks. This type of legislation at an EU level will in turn lead to a European standard in firework safety and help to prevent dodgy, low-standard fireworks finding their way into the UK through the back door."

Mrs McCarthy said she strongly backed the M.E.N.'s call for a complete ban on over-the-counter sales to the general public.

She said: "There are strong reasons why the sale of fireworks needs to be curtailed and restricted as far and as quickly as possible. Every year adults and children are needlessly injured by fireworks.

"Nearly 28,000 have been injured and eight people killed by fireworks since 1973."

The powers from the Fireworks Act, announced by ministers through the M.E.N., have made it illegal for under-18s to possess fireworks in public places.

The most powerful devices have been banned from general sale and an 11pm curfew will be imposed for most of the year.

January 4 2004, AGI Online, FIREWORK: 29 INJURED IN LAZIO, 2 MEN LOSE A HAND
AGI) - Rome, Jan 1 - Twenty nine people in Rome and in the Rome province were injured last night and needed treatment for various kinds of injuries - mainly burns - caused by unsafe use of firework, either directly or indirectly. Twenty three people were injured in the city and 6 in the province, a small increase compared to last year. And the more serious episodes occurred in the province: in the Castelli Romani area, two people were taken to the Albano hospital with traumatic amputations - both of them - of their right hand when firecracker exploded in their hands. After emergency treatment, the two men were taken to hospitals in the capital: one to the Cto and the other to San Giovanni-Addolorata hospital. And a man in Civitavecchia lost three fingers of his right hand. (AGI)

January 4 2004, Reuters Alert News, Philippines starts 2004 with gun, firework mishaps
MANILA, Jan 1 (Reuters) - As Filipinos slept off the revelry of New Year's Eve, police and hospitals reported 18 deaths and hundreds of injuries from firecracker mishaps and stray bullets.
A barrage of noise and light began across the nation of 82 million at dusk on Wednesday, exploding into the early hours of 2004 from backyards, street parties and organised displays.
Despite what police called a peaceful party, fireworks were again the culprit in most of the accidents.
At least 18 people were killed at a market in Lucena City, about 100 km (60 miles) southeast of Manila, when a firecracker vendor set off a massive blaze by testing his wares too close to his storeroom, police said on Thursday.
The death toll may rise as 22 people were missing, they said.
Eleven fires in Manila raced through a home for the disabled, a plastics factory, another market and dozens of houses but caused no serious injuries.
At least 500 people were hurt by exploding firecrackers and 11 wounded by celebratory gunfire, including a 13-year-old girl hit in the arm by a bullet as she watched a fireworks show.
"We're still getting reports from the field but I think the celebration was generally peaceful," Joel Goltiao, a national police senior superintendent, told reporters. "Although the mood was very festive, there were less casualties than we expected."
In the run-up to New Year's Eve, officials urged the public to leave guns at home and take care with fireworks, as newspapers ran photos of hands missing fingers and other grisly injuries.
Even police officers faced scrutiny after eight were arrested last year for firing weapons in the air. This time, tape was put over gun muzzles so commanders could tell who broke the rules.

January 2 2004, Associated Press, OSHA finds violations in firework fatality
Federal safety investigators say an upstate New York fireworks company violated several standard safety procedures that likely contributed to the accidental death of an employee.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that the American Fireworks Co. of Frankfort committed seven "serious violations" following its investigation of a June 14 accident that happened during a fireworks display near P&C Stadium in Syracuse.
Aaron Speciale, 27, of Utica, was killed when the display exploded early and one of the shells struck him in the head.
The company has disputed the violations and will appear before an administrative law judge to answer the charges, said Diane Brayden, OSHA area director. If found guilty, the company could be fined up to $4,750, Brayden said.
"It's not going to bring my son back," Carol Speciale told The Post-Standard of Syracuse when asked for comment about OSHA's findings. "The only consolation this gives me is that I hope the violations will be corrected so this won't happen again."
Aaron Speciale worked at General Electric in Rome but spent evenings and weekends traveling to New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts each summer, helping to set off fireworks. The company is owned by Speciale's uncle, Vincent Speciale.
That night, Speciale had trouble getting a fuse to light during the show's finale. On his third try, the fireworks exploded, setting off several others on the ground.
Among its findings, OSHA concluded the company failed to:
Assess the workplace to determine what hazards existed.
Ensure that employees wore eye protection.
Provide protective helmets to employees.
Maintain its portable fire extinguishers. One inside the company truck was discharged and blocked.
Annually inspect its fire extinguishers.
Provide employees with fire extinguisher education programs.
Provide a safe work environment, exposing employees "to the hazard of being struck or burned by exploding pyrotechnics."
Relatives said they also believe weather might have been a factor in the accident.
They have said it had been raining while the display was being set up, and that moisture probably dampened the chemicals in the fireworks, decreasing the charge it needed to get out of the pipe.
Vincent Speciale said he knew nothing about the OSHA findings or the company's disagreement with the inspection findings.
"We still haven't figured out what happened that night," he told the newspaper. "We haven't made any changes. We're doing things just the way we've always done it."

January 2 2004, Evening Chronicle - Comment, Curb the misuse of fireworks
THERE'S little that irks Chronicle readers more than the misuse of fireworks.
Our letters pages are full of complaints from irate people during the weeks surrounding bonfire night. Youngsters and many adults think nothing of letting off rockets and bangers at all hours of the night making life a misery for their neighbours. But under new measures aimed at tackling noise and nuisance, many of these problems should be eradicated. Fireworks should - exceptional circumstances aside - be for bonfire night and New Year celebrations only. But some estates in the North East are plagued at all hours of the night and at all times of the year with the noise of exploding fireworks. Few of the perpetrators seem to understand that these fireworks are not toys; they are explosive devices capable of maiming. The most recent case was that of Craig Dryden, 14, who lost an eye when a rocket exploded in his face in October last year. Under the new measures, under 18s are banned ' from possessing fireworks in public places and it is also an offence for members of the public to have display-type fireworks. It is hard to believe these measures were not already in place. But it's one thing bringing in these laws; quite another enforcing them. We can only hope the authorities come down hard on anyone flouting the new firework laws. Failure to do so would make the whole exercise pointless and do little to placate the thousands of families suffering under the firework menace.

January 2 2004, Express India, Mine blast, firework explosion kills 10 in China
Beijing, December 31: Ten people have been killed in a mine blast and a fireworks factory explosion on Tuesday in the same part of China, state media said on Wednesday.
Seven miners were killed on Tuesday night when a gas explosion ripped through the Baishanping coal mine in central China's Hunan province, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The cause of the blast was still under investigation, the news agency said.
Earlier in the day, three were killed and about 20 injured in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Hunan's Xinhua county, the Changsha evening news said on its website.

January 1 2004, Borneo Bulletin, China firework factory owner arrested, death toll rises to 37
BEIJING (AFP) - The death toll from a massive fireworks factory blast rose to 37 Wednesday as the owner of the illegal operation was arrested, state media and local officials said.
Another 17 injured people were still being treated in hospital, the Xinhua news agency said.
The blast tore through two factory buildings of Changtu Safe Environment Colour and Noise Co Ltd in Shuangmiaozi township, Liaoning province Tuesday, flattening them.
Local government officials said the dead were all workers at the factory, which had been open just three days.
Police arrested Chen Haoyan, the owner of the factory, early Wednesday, a Shuangmiaozi township official surnamed Wang told AFP. He had fled after the blast and was detained in Changling County in neighbouring Jilin province.
Chen, an associate professor, established the factory in August to manufacture supposedly safe and environmentally friendly fireworks and while he had a business licence, he had no licence for production safety, said Xinhua.
"The people down there are clearing up the scene and trying to find some evidence," said Wang.
The blast occurred mid-morning as workers were producing fireworks for year-end celebrations on Wednesday and for the annual Lunar New Year holiday only weeks away