The Sale Of Fireworks

Big Stevie B · The Sale Of Fireworks

I work in a supermarket and over the last couple of years we have started to sell Fireworks. At the moment they have been put out on display as a temptation to purchase but not ready for sale yet.

They are kept in a cabinet close to the checkouts but the cabinet id flimsy at best and would not need much of a fight to break into.

I think large supermarkets selling these is disgusting. I even told my manager so but he just looked at me, as he knows i have that rebel out spoken streak in me. If they did me for every comment they would never get any work done. lol.

The stores are advertising for people to misuse them. I had a friend injured by a firework which was handled by a teenager who should never have had it.
Plus i was at a house garden display a few years back when one went off and flew threw a bedroom window.

Fireworks should only be available to professionals, displays or events. Otherwise there should be a ban on the purchase of them.

I know they will throw age restricted sales clap trap at you but you will still get morons who will buy them and distribute them out. Small shops and large stores only care about a quick buck and the flashy colours which have the kids and teens eyeing them up.

I mean, why the colours and art work on the packaging when an adult already knows what it will do?

Even adults are dangerous with fireworks. Ban shops and supermarkets from selling them at least.

Magic

As a licensed and qualified pyrotechnician I quite agree they should be banned form public sale, as then I'd get more bookings to do displays. Cool

Being serious though it's amazing just how dangerous fireworks are and yet any old person over 21 can buy them and do what they want without any prior knowledge or training. To get around changes to the law 5 years ago manufacturers have started building bigger domestic fireworks that can do REAL damage. Lets not forget these things are explosives.

I can not understand why rockets are still legal. They can be so dangerous even I don't like touching the things. It's complex as to why they can be so dangerous so I won't go in to it but one obvious thing is that big stick has to come down somewhere.

I can see why shops are so keen to sell fireworks. The profit margin on them is massive. I'm in a position to know what the trade prices are they are no where near the retail. From my retail knowledge I'd say they have one of the biggest profit margins for a super market / corner shop.

Bunnie

It has taken years for me to get over my fear or fireworks, this initially came from being at school and gangs throwing them about all over the school fields. Also where my parents live they throw them out of cars at you.

I have even been to some controlled displays where I did not feel safe, the last one was about 4 years ago where the remains of the fireworks showered down on the crowd. In this instance my fight or flight response kicked in and I ran until I felt I was a safe distance.

Now I will only go to displays where I feel comfortable, mainly at theme parks, but even now I have to feel as though I am a safe distance away.

I am of the opinion that fireworks should not be for public sale, people should have a special licence to use them, especially as they can be used as a weapon.

Nimmykins

I adore fireworks and used to sell them when I worked in a newsagent.
Me being me, I was very strict with customers with regard to age, smoking in the shop, etc.
However, back then you couldn't buy the size of firework available retail today.
There should be a restriction on the size of what is available retail.

hazzzzeeee

I agree to! I also used to work in a large supermarket and the cupboard we used to store them in was awful! If one of them had gone off so many people would have got hurt!

You could take the door off with the lock on because it was that flimsey.
I am not a big fan of fireworks and have had them in the garden in the past which was very dangerous!

I think professionals at events should be the only ones able to purchase them. The amount of people injured by them are stupid numbers!
I am not being sterotypically the majourity of people that have injuries are in their teens because they hide them in their pockets!!

Ok rant over!lol

Paul H.

I was brought up in Northern Ireland and due to the "troubles" fireworks were banned in case the terrorists used the gunpowder to make bombs...........fireworks gunpowder is so much worse than Semtex don't you find!

Anyway I digress, at present in Liverpool criminal gangs are using display firworks as bombs...they put a couple in a car and ignite them, in effect creating a car bomb...they even tried to blow up a police station as revenge for a police raid on gang members mother's house.

Another jolly jape was to use the biggest shop bought firework to blow up post boxes and telephone kiosks. Can you imagine a member of your family walking past a post box when it blew up....the pieces of metal were spread over a hundred yards.....as for your relative?

Fireworks should be left to the experts.

On a lighter note Marrowfat peas are on offer at our local supermarket

Magic

During my training I got to see some great videos of the kind of damage fireworks can do. It's terrifying how few fireworks you need to cause major carnage. Even heavy duty cargo containers won't hold back the blast power so wooden cupboards certainly won't do much. But they are more to stop sources of ignition getting in and people from stealing them.

There use to be a factory somewhere in the UK that mysteriously exploded. All that was found was part of an engine for a Ford Transit and parts of gas canisters. Without further evidence the theory was someone tried to break into the storage bunker using a welders torch but in the process ignited the fireworks which in the confined area all went off in one big explosion killing the burglars and destroying the transit van they were driving.

Although the fireworks sold to the public look big a lot of it is packaging with bits of wood and cardboard padding them out, so side by side with equal sized professional fireworks they contain a lot less explosive material. But that doesn't mean they are any less dangerous. Domestic fireworks are limited by bore size and net explosive weight, but I do think this needs reducing further.

Auntie Murial

I also work in a large supermarket chain, and we for the first year ever have started to sell fireworks! however we have extra policies in place and a display cabinet that is like alcatraz.

However i feel that only sparklers should be sold to the general public.

Magic

Sparklers??!!!!!! Do you know how dangerous they are, and how dangerous they can become. Just go on You Tube and search the term Sparkler Bomb and you'll see what I mean.

butler

As with all things fireworks are only dangerous in the wrong hands. I am 43 now and have been buying fireworks from a local shop, in some form or another, since I was a small child. Yes I can remember that far back. In all those years I or any of my friends & family have never had an accident with them.

Butler

Auntie Murial

Jester

Having spent an evening sitting in the casualty unit of our local eye hospital with Devonne our daughter, I think public sales of all fireworks should be banned.

Devonne suffered damage to her eye due to firework fallout from a display at a school near our house. We were not even at the display, just emptying our car of shopping when the debris started showering our garden, and she looked up and had embers fall in to her eye.
I would have sold my soul to take away the pain she suffered.

Ban them - Ban them all, and leave it to the professionals.

And that is not even going into my feeling about the suffering fireworks cause for domestic pets and wild life. Evil or Very Mad

Kirk

i think this is difficult topic to discuss i am for the sale of them with greater restrictions...

i think the main problem is they are on sale for too long, they are on sale now weeks and weeks before bonfire night, i think they should only be on sale for a week period, people will say well what happens if i don't get time to pick them up etc...

as for only letting professionals doing it, this has its ups and downs, i think it would stop some people gonig to be firework displays such as theme parks etc because not everyone can afford the stupid prices to get it...

then you have the issue of the land of the free!

like everything in life your going to get some idiots who think its funny to mess around with them

butler

Magic,
I went on You Tube as you suggested and most of the males making the bombs where of an age that should have nown better. Why should those of us that use fireworks in a responsible way be penalised because there are those out there that do not?

Bunnie

What is so horrifying is that there are actual tutorials showing how to make a sparkler bomb!

butler

As a country we seem to be legislating to cover peoples stupidity.

Magic

A lot of the sparkler bombs are made in Australia where nearly all other types of fireworks are prohibited. So a complete ban can just make matters worse.

Kirk from memory the restriction on how long they can be sold for hasn't changed. It's something like the 2 weekends either side of 5th November, but I'd have to get my training notes out to confirm this. However certain premises can apply for 365 day licenses to sell fireworks. The cost of this license is high and additional storage measures are required, subsequently the likes of super markets and corner shops don't have this license. These premises are rare and tend to be specialists or indeed firework companies themselves eg. Fantastic Fireworks and Pains Fireworks.

As with all age restricted goods those who shouldn't get their hands on things do. It's also a sad fact that even professional displays can result in accidents. The very nature of fireworks means they will never be 100% with out fault, but as professionals we are aware of potential malfunctions and do all we can to ensure that such incidents don't lead to injuries or damage. But even then injuries can occur. I don't have the real facts and figures but you are far safer going to a professional display.

For anyone looking to buy fireworks for personal use my top tip is always buy what are described as cakes. They are square or round and have multiple shots, commonly 25 or 100 shot. As individual fireworks they're not cheap but they can do so much and can get to some serious height, plus they can run for quite a while. They look much better than a jack in the box or traffic light. But bear in mind safety distances needed (some need up to 50m) and advice on the packaging as to how to secure them when setting them off. I strongly advise against buying rockets, they're expensive, don't last long and in my opinion are potentially one of the most dangerous fireworks. For an idea of cakes have a look here http://www.fantasticfireworks.biz/content/pages/index.php?id_cat=6 But the likes of Asda and B&Q do sell similar items.

What ever you do read the instructions and play safe.

Oh and anyone in the Southampton area I can recommend a really good local shop that sells year round and does great fireworks and sensible prices. Drop me a PM for details, and no I'm not on commission.

coastergraham

I work in a major UK supermarket too (how many of us does that now make Laughing

)

Anyhow I completely agree with Big Stevie's post about the sale of fireworks.

It's time to ban them from sale for general public use as each year they cause misery for loads of peoples and for animals as well. Some pondlives think it funny to attach bangers to cats tails etc Mad

It may seem like more and more is being taken away from us due to the behaviour of the few but in this case we need to remember that firworks are explosives and in the wrong hands are very very dangerous.

On a seperate note 3 years ago the place where I work tried to get me to cover someones break on the firework counter, when I refused they said they would discipline me if i refused, so I told them to bring it on and then I would expose them for having untrained staff handling fireworks and giving advice, oh yes and I seem to remember they did not store them the way they were supposed to either Wink

butler

If we are to ban the sale of Fireworks because of the stupid few how about we ban cars for the same reason. Whilst I except that Fireworks can be dangerous. I would ask the following question.
Out of the many thousands of people who buy them what % result in accidents? and how many of those that are injured due the incorrect use.
With regards to their sale in supermarkets. THey are only interested in their bottom line aren't they.

Butler

Amberrider

Bunnie

I really hate fireworks with a passion now after reading a story on BBC news.

A 15 month old baby has been hurt after an industrial firework was deliberately set off inside a shop in Greater Manchester. A person in a Scream outfit dropped it on the floor and ran out of the shop before the firework went out releasing scores of rockets....it had 200 repeat rounds!

butler

Bunnie,
Whilst this is a trgic incident. The sale of fireworks is not to blame but the moron who thought it funny to throw the firework in the shop in the first place. As with most things if you ban the sale of them an instant black market will spring up selling inferior products.

Bunnie

I know, which is why sometimes I feel that the age to by fireworks should be increased, but then again age doesn't necessarily equal responsibility Sad

butler

This is very true bunnie. When you consider that you can get married when you are 16 but not vote until you are 18.
It does not help when you have programmes such as Jackass and Dirty Sanchez who seem to put accross the notion that it is ok, for a suposed adult, to do stupid stuff and it meant to be funny.

Butler

Big Stevie B

The Judge

I worked for a major supermarket chain 2 years ago doing refrigeration mostly at night, most of the stores kept their fireworks locked in a steel container in the loading yard on two occasions the containers had been broken into one in Leeds with oxy acetylene burning gear and one in Newcastle with a grinder, the stupidity of people sometimes baffles me.

butler

Ok so we ban, outright, the sale of fireworks to the general public and we only have authorised displays.
What happens, Steve, when an individual steals them from the aurhorised display company and lets one off in a shop and harms a number of innocent members of the public who thought they where safe because the sale of fireworks to the public had been banned.

Butler

Big Stevie B

You will always get thefts and crime in the world. Stupid people will always find a way. But if you did ban them, then Mad Mamma C would not have had one thrown at her the other night on her way to work. All the teenager's who somehow got hold of the would not be running around the streets for a whole week before the night, acting like mugs with them.
Sell them in the corner shops, sell them in the supermarkets and give the kids and idiots something to hurt people with. Give the A and E departments some work over Guy Forks Night, instead of the odd freak accident that could occur at a planed private display.
I proved myself right by starting this topic by the fact that Carol was attacked the other night. I don`t think that one was stolen from an event. It would give less opportunity as age restricted sales don`t work with them.

butler

I take on board your point steve. However class A sunstances have been banned but you can still get hold of them