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SafeTalk with SafeStart
SafeTalk with SafeStart
S15Ep2: Fireworks, Joy, And Staying Safe
The fuse catches, your heart jumps, and instinct says run. That split second is where most firework injuries begin—not in the explosion, but in the rush, the stumble, and the moments when excitement outruns preparation. We unpack how holiday celebrations trigger the human states that lead to errors, and we turn that insight into a simple, repeatable plan you can trust.
Host: Danny Smith
Aerial fireworks: Determine the height that the device can shoot up plus the blast radius, which is usually 45-55' per inch. So after traveling 250' in the air, the fallout on a 2.5" would be 150' or so and then double that.
* Note SafeTalk will return 1/5/26. Happy and Safe Holidays!
Danny Smith
Welcome back to SafeTalk with SafeStart. I'm Danny Smith. On behalf of the entire SafeStart team, we wish you a happy and prosperous New Year. Along with New Year's parties might come some fireworks.
Okay. Maybe I shouldn't have to say this, but just as alcohol and driving don't mix, gang, uh, the same goes for fireworks. Now, maybe I feel a little better myself just having said that aloud. Along that line, in some parts of the world, we may even have to include things like, okay, firing weapons randomly into the air is not a great idea. I mean, stop and think about it. Everything that goes up, it's gotta come back down, right?
All right, let's deviate from that and get back to SafeStart. The primary states that you might want to keep on your radar with activities like firework celebrations are probably going to be rushing and complacency. Perhaps there's even a bit of that proverbial extreme joy state that we've heard Larry Wilson talk about in the past. Well, that's certainly not a problem in most workplaces. It certainly could be an issue when celebrating with fireworks.
So, some of the examples with rushing would be, well, the thing that comes to my mind would be trying to rapidly get out of the line of fire of fireworks. And I had an experience with that myself back last summer. Uh, my youngest daughter had brought some fireworks over to celebrate the 4th of July holiday. And my grandson, who is six, he just loves them. So, we did some of the traditional, you know, handheld things like the Roman candles and the sparklers and well, smoke bombs really aren't handheld, but you get the idea of the smaller type things. We did those around our fire pit out back. Uh, but Laura had also brought over some larger, multi-shot, bigger fireworks, if you will. And I took those out to our dock, and we were going to shoot them off from there, away from everybody. Now, honestly, even though we were away from everybody, I was a little nervous about those because I didn't really exactly know what they were going to do.
So, I'm picture this, if you will. It's not a glamorous picture, but I'm kind of bent over, almost kneeling, trying to light this thing, and it just wouldn't ignite. I couldn't get the fuse to light. So, I'm getting a little aggravated at this. I'm trying to be really mindful about my body position while I'm doing this, not getting any part of me over the top of the firework itself. And I'm in this awkward position, this awkward angle, just trying to light the fuse.
The frustration starting to build a bit at this point. And then suddenly the fuse ignites. And I take that as my signal to quickly get out of the way. Did you catch the quickly part? Gang, I'm in my late 50s. My quick isn't as quick as it used to be. Regardless, I started to get away and tried to get away from the fireworks before they started going off with me being too close. And I managed to do that. But as I was trying to move away from them, I tripped and nearly lost my balance, just trying to get up from that awkward position that I was in.
Now, fortunately, I didn't go down, but I can tell you I was a little sore the next day and my back hurt for a couple of days afterwards just because of the odd way I stood and tripped and tried to get away. It's really that classic state-to-error pattern with rushing, frustration combined there, leading to my not on task and balanced traction or grip. While my mind was on the task of getting away, I clearly wasn't thinking about making sure I didn't try to go too fast and I nearly failed.
With regard to complacency, some basic preparation and a review of some best practices regarding fireworks is probably a good place to start. First of all, if you're shooting off fireworks, you want to make sure you're launching them from a uh flat, smooth surface. That doesn't mean get in the middle of the street either, though. I'm thinking more along the lines of driveways or some flat open areas.
Make sure as well that you have a fire extinguisher handy just in case things go wrong. Plan for the worst, then you'll be ready. You know, at work we walk through things like JSJs and JSA's for higher risk tasks. So, applying that same concept here is a really, great idea.
For aerial fireworks, keep a minimum 100-yard clearance from all structures. An even better rule of thumb, and we'll put this in the show notes, is to determine the height that the device can shoot up plus the blast radius and then double that. Now it may sound like a lot of math, but it's really, really important.
Fireworks cause an estimated 1,300 structure fires in the U.S. every year. So, debris and embers can easily fall on the roofs, into yards, into leaf piles, or other flammable materials. It's a great idea to always check your local laws regarding fireworks usage as well.
And uh boy, this is another one that should go without saying, but I'll mention it anyway. Use only legal consumer-grade fireworks purchased from reliable vendors. Stay away from the homemade stuff, gang. Don't be modifying things either. Uh things that go boom should not be modified. That's a good rule of thumb in general. As I mentioned in my story, also consider things that could cause you to lose your balance or to potentially trip. Uh, you probably want to do that in beforehand. You know, do it in the daylight hours before you start to have your fireworks show.
Probably a good idea to have a bucket of water or hose or something like that around in addition to the fire extinguish we talked about previously. I like having water handy for any duds, the ones that just don't light. And obviously, you should not try to re-ignite any of those.
Always follow the safety instructions on the fireworks packaging, and make sure you've got a responsible adult, not only supervising, but I would encourage you lighting all the fireworks as well. Make sure you know where the kids are. They get excited, they start running around that extreme joy state that we were talking about before. Make sure you know where they're at. And also, folks, be sure to secure your pets. Animal shelters report a large increase in the number of lost pets every year around holidays, especially in the U.S. around the 4th of July, that period between July 4th and July 6th. Uh, some estimates are as high as a 30 to 60 percent increase in lost pets because of reactions to the noise and to the lights.
Also, always wear safety glasses. It's a good idea, just protect your eyes there. It goes back to the JHA JSA uh comment earlier. Make sure you're analyzing that and protecting your eyes, and only light one thing at a time. Get back quickly, although you need to make sure that you don't try to go too quickly like I did.
Know the basic first aid for burns and eye injuries, and in case of a fire or serious injury, make sure you call emergency services immediately. Things like that can get out of control really, really fast. And it should go without saying, but avoid horseplay with fireworks as well.
Our SafeTalk producer Kevin Cobb recalls a time from his youth when a buddy of his was involved in a Roman candle fight. Not a really good idea, but sometimes kids will be kids, right? So, one of his friends was wearing a coat, and the other person involved had, I don't know, either great aim or perhaps he was just lucky in his shot. But he hit his friend in the coat, and by the time that friend got the coat off, he had third degree burns on half of his arms. So, make sure that you're using these things properly, right?
They're a thrilling part of many celebrations, but they've got to be handled with care to prevent accidents and injuries.
Better still, folks, go to a professional's firework show. Make it a family night. It's a better show usually than what you can afford or what I can afford anyway. It's safer and uh it gives you great family memories as well. Plus, most of them are free, so it's a great way to do that. If you want to go along by following these guidelines, then you can enjoy firework safely and responsibly. That's it for today. I'm Danny Smith for SafeTalk with SafeStart. Hope you have a great and safe holiday season.