How To Be Safe With Sparklers This Halloween

People seem to think sparklers are harmless fun toys and the increase in their use around Halloween time is massive. Sparklers can be great fun IF you understand the risks and you use them safely.

Sparklers are fireworks. It's that simple.

Colloquially, at least, from what I know they cause the most accidents out of all 'fireworks' each year. There definitely were statistics to support that a few years back. 

The point of this post is to hopefully just open some people's eyes to the danger they can pose and how you can reduce the risk very easily, assuming you're going to go ahead and use them. 

I didn't want to fill this post of graphic pictures of injuries as a result of sparklers, but a quick Google search throws up this one and I think it's illustrative. 

So, here are a couple of interesting facts about sparklers:

• Sparklers get up to 6 times hotter than cooking oil. Think about that before you give it to your child, maybe?
• Each year (in the UK at least) over half of all fireworks injuries are suffered by children.

There are some very simple steps you can take to handle sparklers safety. I haven't made these up. You'll find them in advice lefalets and guidance from agencies and governments all over the world. A lot of it is common sense but, as my mother always says, common sense is far from common.

Being Safe With Sparklers

1. Store sparklers in a closed box in a cool, dry place
2. Wear gloves when lighting them. Preferably leather ones.
3. Always light them one at a time.
4. When done with sparklers put them hot end down into a bucket of water. They can stay very hot for a long time after being put out.
5. Do not bring sparklers to public events. They will likely be too crowded for you to be able to use them safely.
6. Do not wave sparklers around.

Children And Sparklers

1. Never hold a child / baby in one hand while holding a lit sparkler in the other.
2. Never give sparklers to children under 5.
3. For children over 5 make sure they too wear gloves.
4. Supervise children who are handling sparklers.
5. Don't let children wear loose fitting clothing while handling sparklers.
6. Show children to hold them at arms' length out from their body.
7. Do not let children run with sparklers lighting.

In The Event Of An Accident With A Sparkler

1. Cool the burn or scald with cold water. Do this for at least 10 minutes.
2. Do not pull away any material that has been burned / fused to the skin.
3. Do not touch the burn / blister.
4. Cover the burn with cling film. Do not use anything fluffy to cover the burn.
5. If any clothing catches fire then get the person to drop and roll and wrap them tightly in a heavy material like a towel or a curtain. 
6. Get immediate medical advice & attention. Dial 112 or 999 if necessary. 

Working in Event Safety we see how things that SEEM innocent can be very dangerous. It's not about 'party-pooping' or stopping fun from happening. If it WASN'T happening then we'd have no Event Safety work. It's simply about being conscious of the risks and reducing them so everyone is safe.

When it comes to children this should definitely be a no-brainer, in fairness.